New Delhi: Delhi is going to be accredited with India’s largest airport very soon. Termed as Jewar Noida International Airport (JNIA), it is the second airport that Delhi is going to have. The foundation stone for its construction work is to be laid very shortly, as reported by the Centre for Aviation (CAPA) – one of the world’s most trusted sources of market intelligence for aviation and travel industry.
This will be the largest airport in India by surface area and it will be made at an expense of about INR 20,000 crore. Government has aproved the project in june 2017 and as per CAPA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to lay the foundation stone for the project between February 23 and 25.
This airport is purposefully made to dilute the air passenger traffic burden of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. As planned, this new airport is going to deal with 50 million passengers per year, over the next 10-15 years.
India’s aviation industry is growing at a great pace and the country is expected to become the third largest aviation market in the world.This project which is also known as the New Greater Delhi Airport redevelopment project will be executed as a public-private partnership.
The project has got a nod in last February, when the Infrastructure director of GMR Group, K Narayan Rao has confirmed the Group’s plan to participate in the project. But at first the Group was not in favor of any new airport to be built in Delhi.
Rao suggested that a coordination committee should be established with representatives of the Union Government, Uttar Pradesh State Government and private sector to inspect the project and avoid delays. Added to this he also put forth a proposal of developing metro rail connectivity to the planned airport. Hopefully, the airport will be ready by 2022.
