Noida, Nov. 25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Noida International Greenfield Airport, at Gautam Buddha Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, adjoining New Delhi, today.Expected to become one of the largest airports in the world when the expansion is complete, the Noida Airport is being built in the public-private participation (PPP) mode.
Two runways of the airport will become operational by 2024 and the annual passenger capacity of the airport will be around five million then. The Airport is being developed jointly by Zurich International AG and the works are being executed by Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) When the development is complete, the airport will have six runways and an annual passenger capacity of around 12 million. The airport will have state-of-the-art facilities and will be connected to Noida Metro and Delhi Metro. It will have links with Yamuna Expressway and Delhi-Mumbai expressway. The first phase of the airport is expected to cost over Rs 10,000 crore.
Addressing the inaugural function, the Prime Minister said, the new India of the 21st century is building one of the best modern infrastructure. “Better roads, better rail network, better airports are not just infrastructure projects but they transform the entire region, transforming people’s lives completely”, he said.
The Prime Minister said Noida International Airport will become the logistics gateway of northern India. This airport will make the entire region a powerful symbol of the National Gatishakti Masterplan, he added.
Commenting on the economic fallout of infrastructure development, the Prime Minister said huge employment opportunities are created during airport construction. The airport also requires thousands of people to run smoothly. Therefore ,“this airport will also give new employment to thousands of people of western UP”.
The Prime Minister remarked that after 7 decades of independence, for the first time, Uttar Pradesh has started getting what it has always deserved. With the efforts of the double engine government, today Uttar Pradesh is turning into the most connected region of the country. He said, NOIDA International Airport will play a major role in the growing aviation sector of India and will be a key center of maintenance, repair and operations of aircrafts. He informed that the Maintenance, repair and overhaul MRO facility is coming up in 40 acre, giving employment to hundreds of young people. Today India spends thousands of crore rupees for getting these services abroad.
Commenting on the integrated multi-modal cargo hub that is coming up, he said that in a land-locked state like Uttar Pradesh, airport will be very useful. This hub will serve industrial centres like Aligarh, Mathura, Meerut, Agra, Bijnor, Moradabad and Bareilly. He said Khurja artisans, Meerut Sports Industry, Saharanpur furniture, brass industry of Moradabad, Agra footwear and Petha industry will get huge support from the upcoming infrastructure.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and other dignitaries were present at the function.