Prime Minister Lays Foundation Stone Of Noida International Airport

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Noida International Airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar of Uttar Pradesh on 25th November 2021. Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said that the new airport will play an instrumental role in development of the region by paving the way for modern infrastructure. "Better roads, better rail networks, and better airports are not just infrastructure projects but they transform the entire region by transforming people's lives," the PM said. This airport will change the economic landscape of Uttar Pradesh, especially the western part of the State. "It will make the entire region a powerful reflection of the National Gatishakti Masterplan," he added.

Logistics game changer

 For the first time an airport in India is going to be integrated with a multimodal cargo hub, with a focus on reducing total cost and time for logistics. The cargo hub will have an initial capacity of 20 lakh metric tonnes which will be gradually expanded to 80 lakh metric tonnes. Termed by the Prime Minister as the 'Logistics Gateway of Northern India', the project is, therefore, poised to become a logistics game changer. The hub will host a multi-modal transit hub including metro train and highspeed rail stations, taxi, and bus services. Moreover, this future-ready airport will be equipped with maintenance, repair and overhauling service for aircrafts.

 By facilitating seamless movement of industrial products, the airport will play a crucial role in helping the region attract huge investments, boost rapid industrial growth, enable reach of local products to national and international markets and promote tourism. "This hub will serve industrial centres like Aligarh, Mathura, Meerut, Agra, Bijnor, Moradabad and Bareilly. Khurja's artisans, Meerut's sports industry, Saharanpur's furniture, brass industry of Moradabad, Agra's footwear and Petha industry will get huge support from the upcoming infrastructure," the Prime Minister noted.

 Situated near major expressways like Yamuna Expressway, Western Peripheral Expressway, Eastern Peripheral Expressway, DelhiMumbai Expressway, this airport will facilitate trade and commerce in a big way. The airport will also be linked with the Delhi-Varanasi High Speed Rail, enabling smooth and fast journey between Delhi and the airport in only 21 minutes. The proposed site is close to major tourist attractions like Agra, Vrindavan, Mathura which will provide a boost to the tourism sector.

 Entrepreneurship and Employment Opportunities

The Noida International airport will play a vital role in creating an atmosphere conducive to mushrooming of new enterprises, and provide a major push to exports from the region, thus creating a gamut of employment opportunities for the youth. It will be a crucial facilitator for the district hub export initiative under the new foreign trade policy that envisages making each district of India, an export hub. "The airport will attract investments worth 60 thousand crore rupees after becoming operational and will create over a lakh employment opportunities," Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said while addressing the foundationlaying ceremony.

Operationalisation of this airport is expected to pave way for increased business and commercial activities in and around the area facilitating the setting up of industrial townships, clusters, corridors, IT Parks, film city, commercial and residential real estate activities. It is also projected to become a major educational hub which will create a large talent pool for industry needs.

The airport is being developed in public-private partnership mode by the Uttar Pradesh government with Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, an SPV of Zurich International Airport AG. Zurich International Airport AG handles Zurich Airport in Switzerland apart from 8 other airports in Latin America. The first phase of the development of the airport is scheduled to be completed by 2024 at the cost of over 10 thousand crore rupees.

 (Contributed by Bhupendra Singh, Correspondent, All India Radio)