WHAT IS THE JEWAR AIRPORT PROJECT IN GREATER NOIDA?

New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday approved the Jewar Airport project in Greater Noida which on realisation shall become the second airport in the National Capital Region (NCR) after Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI). Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said at a press briefing in New Delhi that “in-principle clearance has been granted” for the airport.
“Noida International Airport will cater to 30-50 million passengers per year over the next 10-15 years,” tweeted the minister.
The approval has come after a series of loggerheads that the project faced for about a decade primarily because of differences between the Centre and state governments. The previous regime in Uttar Pradesh under Akhilesh Yadav had issues about the location of the upcoming international airport.
The Samajwadi Party favoured Firozabad or Agra to be the site of the airport whereas the government at the Centre has been arguing for the airport to be in close proximity to New Delhi, in a bid to divert the air traffic from IGI.
The idea of an airport in Western UP was first conceived in 2001 by the then CM Rajnath Singh. However, the formal proposal from the state government was forwarded by BSP supremo Mayawati who succeeded Singh as the chief minister in 2002. In what appeared to be a major impediment for the project, Samajwadi Party’s rise to power in 2003 and the subsequent demand it raised for the airport to be set up in Agra caused the project to be virtually stall for four years.