UP visualises Jewar as third largest airport in world

Lucknow: In a bid to make Uttar Pradesh an investment hub on both eastern and western freight corridors that pass though the state, the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government plans to invest around Rs 15,000-20,000 crore in its proposed greenfield international airport at Jewar near Greater Noida, which will be third largest airport in the world. Besides, the government is also working on another international airport at Kushinagar to attract more investors globally, according to a top official in the UP government.

The government’s move is part of the state’s ambitious target of UP touching the $1-trillion economy by 2024. UP being the largest state in the country, also wants to contribute its pie to Prime Minister Modi’s vision of turning India to a $5-trillion economy in the next five years.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the South Korean government has shown interest in projects and is expected to invest Rs 60,000 crore in the state in different sectors, including infrastructure.

“Projects worth Rs 65,000 crore are in the pipeline and we will decide the dates for holding a groundbreaking ceremony sometime at the end of this year,” the CM said while interacting with select media persons at his residence on late Wednesday evening.

Looking forward to the betterment of the state in terms of investment, the Chief Minister further added, “Due to the ongoing US-China trade war, foreign investors in China are exploring other countries to shift their business operations and India is poised to gain the maximum from this geopolitical development, especially after the recent corporate tax announcements by the central government.”

“Besides Jewar, we are also working on another greenfield international airport at Kushinagar. UP offers abundant cheap labour apart from being the country’s largest market for products and services,” he said.

An official source said the process of acquiring 1,334 hectares for the international greenfield airport project at Jewar is underway. “The construction work of phase-I of the airport is expected to be completed by 2022 and the airport is likely to start operations from 2023,” the source said.

As many as 19 bidders, including GMR, Reliance and Adani groups, have shown interest in developing the Jewar airport. “So far, 19 bidders have shown interest in the airport project for which technical bid will open on November 6. The cabinet has already approved the amendment in the bid document prepared by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers,” the source said.

Jewar Airport is expected to be the world’s third biggest airport and the biggest in Asia. O’Hare airport in Chicago is world’s biggest.