Jewar Airport: UP govt okays Rs 1,260 cr for land acquisition

The Uttar Pradesh government has approved a fund of Rs 1,260 crore for acquisition of land for the proposed Jewar airport in Gautam Buddh Nagar, according to an official document.

The amount, released for acquisition in the first phase of airport construction, is to be spent for land acquisition and payment to the farmers concerned, the letter stated.

A total of 5,000 hectare land is required for the development of the proposed Greenfield international airport and cost Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore, officials said.

For the first phase of the airport the second in the National Capital Region (NCR) 1,334 hectare land is required. 1,239 hectare land from six villages (Rohi, Dayanatpur, Parohi, Kishorpur, Ranhera and Banwariwas).

"The Governor has approved sanction of Rs 1,259 crore for the acquisition of land for the Jewar Airport in the financial year 2018-19," Special Secretary Surya Pal Gangwar wrote in a letter to the director of state Civil Aviation Ministry.

At a meeting held in Lucknow to discuss the progress of the project on November 14, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed officials of the Noida International Airport Limited and the Gautam Budh Nagar administration to expedite work on the airport.

On October 30, the state government had issued a notification for the acquisition of land for the greenfield project in the district under Section 11 (1) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

The district administration had on October 17 completed the proceedings at its level and sent a proposal to the government for the acquisition of 1,239 hectare of land from six villages in Jewar.

The Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), formed by the government to develop the airport, will invite bids to rope in a concessionaire to execute the project.

Some landowners, including farmers, had initially resisted the land acquisition citing various reasons such as an "inadequate" compensation amount and related benefits, besides the resettlement policy.

The proposed airport, which will be the second in the NCR after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, is expected to go operational by 2022-23.