It's official! NCR gets its second airport in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The National Capital Region(NCR) is going to have its second international airport in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh in three years time.

The Civil Aviation Ministry has taken an in-principle decision for setting up an international airport at Jewar in Gautam Budh Nagar district.

The availability of land in the area and upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh may have heavily tilted the balance in Jewar's favour, which was competing with Bhiwadi in Haryana for the second international airport in the region.

Right now, the NCR depends on Indira Gandhi International Airport in Gurugram which will need capacity overhaul in the coming days. As the government's regional connectivity scheme takes off, the load on IGI Airport is expected to rise.  

Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma  has maintained that once the Regional Connectivity Scheme takes off, the need for a new airport, that would have felt after 5-7 years from now, may be felt in the next three years.

Indian Express had reported on Sunday that Mahesh Sharma last week said that over 2,200 acres of land for a second airport has been acquired at Jewar and that the GMR Group, which operates the Indira Gandhi International Airport, would be preferred for developing the project. The proposal would soon be sent to the Cabinet for approval.

The paper added that shortly after approving the proposal Sharma said, “With the population of NCR covering Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Meerut in western Uttar Pradesh using only one airport, there is an urgent need for a second airport. And Jewar is the only place where land is available. Our first choice is Jewar.”

Sharma has maintained that the need for a new airport, that we would have felt after 5-7 years from now, may be felt in the next three years.”

The Centre had sent the approval for the airport in Jewar to the UP government in April and had asked the state to prepare detailed project report as per Greenfield Airport policy, 2008.

The process towards construction of the airport will expedite when the State government takes all the necessary approval and clearances from the Central government.

Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority in 2015 had earmarked nearly 5,000 acres of agricultural land in Jewar area, along the 165-km Yamuna Expressway that connects Greater Noida with Agra.