Why is the government of India building a new airport in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh? And how can the Airport help the region of western Uttar Pradesh and North India as a whole?

The Swiss have won the race to build a second airport for Delhi-NCR. Located on the outskirts of Delhi in Jewar.  The Swiss company ( Zurich Airport International AG) won the contract to build the proposed airport in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh. The airport is expected to bring competition in the air travel market in the region, which is right now monopolised by GMR managed Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport and help boost the state economy.

The Jewar Airport will be an upcoming greenfield airport in Jewar in Greater Noida. It will be the second in the NCR region after Delhi’s IGI airport. The airport will be spread over 5,000 hectares and will cost the taxpayer around Rs. 30,000 crores. The project was taken up seriously after the BJP formed the state government in Uttar Pradesh and both PM Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath put their weight behind it. Jewar airport, after completion, will be among one of the three largest airports in the world with its 6 runways.

The need for another airport in the Delhi- NCR region was felt has it would achieve a number of objectives-

The new airport would reduce the burden on Indira Gandhi International (IGI) as it’s rapidly reaching its peak capacity of handling passengers in the next 6-7 years. 

The airline industry in North India will get a huge boost as airlines operating in the region with IGI as their primary hub will be able to deal with constant slot constraints on the back of heavy traffic. 

Western Uttar Pradesh will get a massive economic boost as the airport will be able to serve as an international hub for adjoining cities of Noida, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Bulandshahr cities like Agra and Greater Noida, which possess massive manufacturing and tourism facilities will greatly benefit.

India is trying to make air travel accessible to more and more of its people by building new airports in underserved regions and through schemes like UDAAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) which provides subsidies and tax breaks to encourage regional airport connectivity. With the Indian market being the fastest growing market in the world for the 4th year in a row the potential for airports like Jewar is enormous.

Topics: GS-III: Infrastructure Ports Roads Airports Railways