Greater Noida, (Samajweekly) Everyone, be it the common man or an industrialist, seems to have a wish to own a shop or industry in the areas near Jewar airport in Uttar Pradesh’s show window Gautam Budh Nagar ever since the land was allotted for the international airport.
In a exclusive interview with IANS, Yamuna Authority CEO Arun Veer Singh answered queries related to Jewar airport.
Q: So many industries are being set up, so much development is taking place, how much employment will it provide?
A. Industry and infrastructure have a direct relation with employment…. In the airport, 50,000 direct employment will be made, while indirect employment will be around 1.5 to 2 lakh. All the industries that are coming up, will employ 5.50 lakh people.
Right now four industries are running here, 69 have got their papers approved.
Q: Till date, which companies of the country and abroad have applied for land here?
A. Many big national and international companies are constantly applying for land in the Yamuna Authority to set up their industries. Sify Data Park is being built. There are a lot of Fortune 500 companies that want to come here. Many national and international companies including Mitsubishi Oil, Tata, Smith, Samson, Siemens have applied for land, and many of them have been allotted the land. There are many Japanese companies who want to invest here, the allotment work is going on continuously for them too.
Q: When will the flight operations begin at Jewar Airport. Any deadline?
A. As per the concession agreement, which is binding on both the parties, the developer as well as the government, the airport has to be operational before October 1, 2024. Test flights will start from the last week of February and the first week of March next year…
There are DGCA norms on how many cargo and commercial flights should be operated. These norms are followed which takes almost six months…. After the successful run of the test flight, it is possible that commercials flights might be operational from August or September.
Q: Was any meeting held with the Aviation Ministry for the security arrangements and other facilities at the airport?
A. For this, a Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) has been constituted by the Union government, which holds a meeting at the Chief Secretary level in every quarter on the construction of every airport. All the agencies involved in this JCC, be it security agencies, customs department, animal husbandry, plant quarantine or animal quarantine, all the departments coordinate with each other and their meetings are held continuously. All the land required by all these departments has been allotted to them, there is no pendency.
Q: What are the works being done on connectivity and transport mode from Jewar Airport?
A. As per the concession agreement, we have to provide two types of connectivity to Jewar airport. We have to provide a connectivity from airport to expressway at 750 meters and the other four interchanges are to be made there, work for which is underway. The NHAI has granted the work for it to Afcons.
If we talk about transport, then it is not mentioned in the concession agreement. However, we will be introducing many different means of transport for the people living here, for the industries set up here for Jewar Airport. But its connection and deadline is not related to the construction of Jewar Airport.
In the mode of transport, we are making a 31 km green field from Ballabhgarh to Jewar Airport for which land has been acquired and work for it is underway from both sides — Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
This green field will connect to Mumbai Delhi Expressway. Along with this, work is underway on the project of connecting a high speed rapid train from Sarai Kale Khan to Jewar, and a report has been submitted to NCRTC. Global bed of pod taxi has been proposed.
Q: Around 55 villages have been included in the Yamuna Authority, what is the action plan for them, how they will be developed?
A. Fifty-five villages of Khurja Development Authority and Bulandshahr Development Authority which used to fall in Bulandshahr Development Authority have been notified. The outline of for development is being prepared under the master plan 2041.
Q: How do you see organisation of events like Formula One and MotoGP in future?
A. Motor bike racing and car racing is a huge sector worldwide and has a huge score, it also plays a huge role in the economy. This racing event is conducted in 66 countries of the world. Once Formula One racing was conducted in India, we did not get this opportunity again. So MotoGP is associating with us with whom we have signed a seven-year contract.
Due to the presence of this track of Formula One in the area of Yamuna Authority, Formula One will also be organised in the near future. This track has been converted in such a way that both car racing and bike racing can be done here. This in itself is a big deal as it will be only the fifth track in the world to have both these facilities.
Q: When did Yamuna Authority start earning profits?
A. Yamuna Authority started earning profit in 2016, even before the Jewar airport came into existence. In 2015, this authority was running in loss. Its profit is increasing every year since 2016. Last year, this authority pegged a profit of Rs 406 crore. After the announcement of Jewar Airport, not only Yamuna Authority but both Noida and Greater Noida authorities have got its benefit. It is India’s largest airport, Asia’s second largest airport and the world’s fourth largest airport, so many nearby districts are getting its benefit.
