The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) is to set up the international airport in Jewar,It is proposed to be developed in three phases on a 3,000-hectare land. In the first phase, nearly 3,000 acres will be required for which it will require Rs 4,000 crore. However, at least four runways will have to be completed in the first phase at least to accommodate aircraft so it will be feasible to acquire the entire 3,000-hectare in the first phase itself. For this magnanimous project, at least Rs 9,000-10,000 crore for land acquisition will be needed which will be generated by the state government. Nearly, 3,000 rural homes are going to be shifted from the path of the proposed airport and these families will have to be rehabilitated.
Chief Secretary Rajiv Kumar; Director, civil aviation department, UP, Devendra Swarup; principal secretary, industries Alok Sinha and Prabhat Kumar were all present in the meeting. Kumar, who is also the divisional commissioner, Meerut said, “Turning down the formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to generate money for land acquisition, it was decided that YEIDA will start the land acquisition with money provided by state government,” .
It was also decided that a techno-economic feasibility report (TEFR) shall be readied along with the land acquisition process. A TEFR for the project is compiled in 2007-08. Yet, this report will either have to be taken up again or the old one will be updated. A consultant for this purpose will be appointed. Once the TEFR is done, environment clearances for the airport will also be sought. This work will be undertaken parallel with land acquisition.
The final decision is undertaken by the state government for getting preliminary green signal from the Union ministry of civil aviation and also a site clearance certificate from the ministry of defence (MoD) for the proposed project. The UP civil aviation department has also sought clearance from the ministry of home affairs and will soon be approaching the ministry of finance and department of customs.
Finally, the state government will have to approach Union ministry of civil aviation for final approval. The airport is said to be easing the burden on Delhi’s IGI international airport to a certain extent.
