On Thursday – November 25th 2021, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone to inaugurate the Jewar International Airport, Noida. Civil Aviation Minister Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Nath were present in this auspicious ceremony.
The first phase of operations of the Jewar International Airport will commence in the first half of 2024. This airport will be entirely functional by 2040.
How is the Jewar International Airport different from other international airports? Will it affect other areas, and how? What impact will it create on the Indian economy?
Let us see and understand the features of the Jewar International Airport!
Features of the Jewar International Airport
Land Area and Passenger Capacity:
- The estimated area of this airport is 5000 acres, with six runways.
- It will accommodate up to 1.2 crore passengers every year, in the first phase.
- However, once the fourth and final phase is complete, it will accommodate up to 7 crore passengers every year!
- The grand scale and capacity of this airport are said to be a “game-changer“.
The second airport in NCR and fifth in Uttar Pradesh:
- The Jewar International Airport will be the second airport constructed in the NCR region.
- The first airport is the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
- Moreover, the Jewar International Airport will be the fifth international airport in Uttar Pradesh.
- The other four international airports are – Lucknow, Kushinagar, Varanasi, and the upcoming Ayodhya airport.
- Uttar Pradesh will be the only Indian state to house the highest number of international airports.
Location and On-Road Connectivity:
- The airport will connect to nearby significant roads and highways such as the Yamuna Expressway, Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressway, and the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.
- The link between the Jewar Airport to the planned Delhi-Varanasi High-Speed Rail will facilitate travel between Delhi and Jewar airport in approximately 21 minutes.
Budget: Various developmental stages have different budgetary allocations.
- The first phase of development has a budgetary allocation of approximately Rs 10,500 cr.
- The total cost of the construction and infrastructure of this airport is estimated to be Rs. 29,560 cr.
- The Uttar Pradesh government will also allocate Rs. 4,326 cr toward land acquisition and resettlement.
Architecture, Operations and Planning
- The Zurich Airport AG, based in Switzerland, will build and operate the Jewar International Airport.
- Fun Fact – The Swiss Airport company won the bid in November 2019. Later, they signed a “concessionaire agreement” with the Uttar Pradesh government.
- The Jewar airport will be India’s first net-zero emissions airport.
- Net-zero emission refers to balancing planet Earth’s reactions with greenhouse gasses via various reduction measures.
- The design will focus on low operating costs and seamless commute processes for flyers.
Conclusion
The Jewar International Airport is an awaited project that the Uttar Pradesh and Indian governments are anticipating eagerly!
The high scale operations, capacity, and net-zero emission-based architecture will set a precedent for other infrastructure projects to follow suit.
Moreover, we expect India’s collaboration with Switzerland based Zurich Airport to make the Jewar International Airport a class apart.