Jewar airport to soon see hectic activity as NIAL and ZAIA signs crucial deal

The Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) on Saturday (July 17) signed a shareholder agreement with Swiss company Zurich Airport International AG (ZAIA) to start work at Noida International airport at Jewar.

Arun Vir Singh, CEO, NIAL, and Christoph Schnellmann, CEO, Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), signed the agreement in Lucknow the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the state's Chief Secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari, and Additional Chief Secretary SP Goyal.

According to the agreement, NIAL will hold one golden share in YIAPL and the right to nominate two directors to the board. The directors to be added to the board will be NIAL CEO Arun Vir Singh, and Uttar Pradesh's Director Civil Aviation Vishak Iyer.

The shareholder agreement marks another important milestone for the Jewar airport project and the much-awaited aviation infrastructure in the National Capital Region (NCR) and in Uttar Pradesh. 

The ZAIA and the Uttar Pradesh government are developing the Noida International Airport as a world-class project. The agreement underpins the state government’s support to establish and continuously improve surface access to the airport, establish and expand utilities required to run the airport (water, electricity, wastewater), maintain law and order, including monitoring at the airport and grant the necessary clearances to build and operate the airport.

"The signing of the shareholder agreement is the next step in the direction of progress for the state. The Noida International Airport will be the benchmark for a modern, world-class airport in India. It will accelerate the development of industrial infrastructure, boost tourism, promote exports, ease air traffic and lead to the creation of more jobs in the state. It will generate multi-dimensional progress, leading to economic development in Uttar Pradesh," said Yogi Adityanath.  

"The shareholder agreement with Zurich Airport International AG (ZAIA) is yet another stride towards developing a truly world-class airport in Uttar Pradesh. We all are eagerly awaiting the beginning of the construction of the airport, which will herald economic growth and job opportunities in the state. We are confident that the NIA will be the benchmark for a digital, sustainable and state-of-the-art airport not only for the state but for the whole country," said Arun Vir Singh.  

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Daniel Bircher, Chief Executive Officer, ZAIA, said, "We are pleased to sign the shareholder agreement, which strengthens the partnership between ZAIA and NIAL. The Noida International Airport will be an engine of economic growth for India and Uttar Pradesh, stimulating residential and industrial activities in the catchment area as well as the development of cargo and logistics clusters in the NCR region. This agreement reaffirms UP government’s commitment to provide road and rail connectivity along with other various utilities and to ensure safety and security for the upcoming Noida International Airport.”

"ZAIA is a committed partner for India’s growth, and we see tremendous opportunities to invest and support India’s national agenda through infrastructural development and job creation. We are invested in India’s aviation ecosystem and are working closely with the government of Uttar Pradesh and the government of India to build a passenger-friendly, digital and green airport with a seamless logistics ecosystem," Bircher added. 

The Noida International Airport has been envisaged as India’s first net zero-emission airport and the proactive stance taken by the Uttar Pradesh government in its Uttar Pradesh Solar Energy Policy 2017 is expected to be a major enabler in this regard. 

NIA is striving to make air travel more affordable for airlines and passengers by building the infrastructure in a sustainable and cost-effective manner using renewable energy. The state government’s support through measures such as value-added tax/goods and services tax (VAT/GST) exemptions on procurement of equipment related to renewable energy, on cross-subsidy charges, wheeling/transmission charges as well as on open access charges will help make NIA’s sustainability investments financially viable. Last month, the YIAPL received the final credit sanction for Rs 3,725 crore from the State Bank of India (SBI) for the development of the Noida International Airport (NIA).

Also read: Covid-19 fails to hinder Jewar airport's steady progress

Operations at the airport are expected to kick off in 2024. Once the airport is completed, it will be the third airport in Delhi-NCR after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and Ghaziabad’s Hindon Airport.

The airport is planned to have five runways when fully complete, which would bring it at par with global airports like Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in the US and Shanghai Pudong International Airport in China. According to a report in The Times of India, there would be two runways in the first phase.

The airport is to be constructed over 4,752 hectares over the next 20 years.  

The Jewar airport is expected to accommodate 12-16 million passengers per year. This will increase to 70 million passengers annually by 2050, according to a News18 report. The Delhi airport is set to exhaust its annual carrying capacity of 100 million passengers by 2023-24. The Jewar airport is expected to significantly bring down the load on the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).

The king-sized project has already started to attract crores of investment, with the potential of creating lakhs of jobs. It would be a massive push for the industrial development of the region and the country as a whole. Real estate, logistics, warehousing, tourism and transport infrastructures would be particularly strengthened and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) would get a leg up. The Jewar airport would also see a burgeoning population around the project site.