The Taj International Airport is a future airport to be built in Delhi, India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_international_airport

http://www.newdelhiairport.in/media-con.asp?id=468

Taj International Airport hub yet to take off

Virendra Singh Rawat / New Delhi/ Lucknow April 09, 2008

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=319448


The proposed greenfield airport hub near the national capital is yet to take off. The reason behind the delay, as put by the Uttar Pradesh government, is the Centre’s laxity in clearing the project and delaying its approval.

The Rs 3,500 crore Taj International Airport Hub is to be built at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of UP. Once built, the hub is being touted as only of its kind in India offering world-class facilities.

While, things have started moving positively for the Rs 30,000 crore Ballia-Greater Noida Expressway mooted by the Mayawati government after it came to power last year. But the airport hub proposed way back in 2001, is yet to see the light of the day.

Archana Agarwal, Secretary, UP Infrastructure and Industrial Development Department told Business Standard that the final nod from the central government is still awaited before the bidding process could be initiated.

The Public Private Partnership (PPP) funded mega project is estimated to entail acquisition of over 1,500 hectares of land in Jewar.

It would be developed as an aviation hub with two runways to start with and offering cargo and transit facilities for international connecting flights. Besides, the periphery would be developed as major commercial, residential, shopping and recreational spots as part of the project.

The Ballia-Greater Noida Expressway is further expected to give prominence to the airport hub. The Expressway project has already been awarded to the JP Group after a tough bidding process by the state government.

The techno-feasibility study of the airport hub has been completed and submitted to the Centre. The state government has already sent a representation to the Union Civil Aviation Ministry to convene a Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting to clear the project.

“We want the Union cabinet secretary to chair the meeting with representatives from the state government on board, so that the mega project can finally take off,” Agarwal said adding the aviation sector is growing by over 21 per cent and the proposed hub would give a boost to the economy in the region.

The main hurdle the airport faces is the norm under which an airport cannot be developed within 150 kms of an existing one and the proposed aviation hub would rival Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.

However, the Centre has relaxed this norm in the case of Mumbai, where another airport is proposed in Navi Mumbai to decongest the skies of India’s financial capital.

Besides, another airport near the National Capital Region (NCR) has become a necessity to ease congestion at the IGI Airport and to facilitate faster growth in the sector.

Initially, the new airport was planned to be completed by 2010 to coincide with the hosting of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. However, the project may not keep pace as it is yet to take off.

Agarwal informed that once approved, a tough bidding process would be followed to select the company to develop the greenfield airport hub.

Interestingly, the project received the stamp of approval from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in 2003, when Mayawati government was at the helm. Now that BSP is back in power.

The Taj International Airport Hub is estimated to handle almost 4 million passengers annually.

I don't see a need for it , especially as DIAL has a ultimate master plan to manage 100 ppa by 2024 or so.

Plus there is the dreaded 150 Km clause , if the project still finds a way then great but even if it's otherwise - hardly a big deal.

I live in london we have got five airports, it might seem pointless now but believe me in five years time, you will need it. Safdarjung Airport is also only 12km away from IGI.Is it still operational?

nnn

Will they make any new airports in punjab india

Mohali Punjab & Harayana Govs are going 50-50%.

Haryana may land second international airport in NCR

http://gurgaoncitynews.com/4378/haryana-may-land-second-international-airport-in-ncr.html


The parliamentary consultative committee on civil aviation said on Monday that Delhi required more than one airport and suggested setting up of an international airport at Jhajjar in Haryana. The panel also asked for sorting out the legal issues involved in building a second airport in the national capital region (NCR).

According to a government official, the suggestion was backed by Lok Sabha member Deepender Singh Hooda and former Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Najma Heptullah.

The Centre is also considering an international airport at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh. The proposed Jhajjar project as well as the Greater Noida airport are within 150 km of the existing Delhi airport. Cabinet approval is required to build an international airport within 150 km of an existing one.

The government had recently cleared a revised policy on greenfield airports, allowing construction of a new airport within 150 km of an existing one, subject to special permission from the Cabinet.

Speaking on the possibility of building a second airport for the Capital, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said, “A group of ministers (GoM) has been asked to look into the legalities of setting up of a second airport near Delhi in view of the agreement signed with the developers of the IGI airport in the Capital.”

In case the government goes ahead with a second airport for the Capital, Delhi International Airport (DIAL) has the right of first refusal (RoFR). This means the GMR group-backed DIAL will get to match the highest bid for developing the new airport if its bid is not more than 10% lower than the highest bid.

Meanwhile, consultative committee member Rajeev Shukla has urged the government to open Safdarjung airport in the city for general aviation. The airport is closed for commercial operation due to security considerations and is used only for VVIP movement such as those of the prime minister and other top leaders.

“If commercial aircraft can fly over White House and Buckingham Palace, why should the Safdarjung area be a no-fly zone? The government should either permit private aircraft to use the airport for general aviation which would ease congestion at IGI or it should consider using the area for other productive use of the public,” Mr Shukla said.

I live in london we have got five airports, it might seem pointless now but believe me in five years time, you will need it. Safdarjung Airport is also only 12km away from IGI.Is it still operational?

thats what I said - good if Taj makes it despite the big hurdles it faces but in all fairness the upcoming Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 ,5 and 6 to follow in addition to the Terminal 1 and 2 which exist should be sufficient for the long term too.

Safdurjung is currently not operations , apart from the Lyutens no fly zone issue , it has a tiny runway and many important landmarks which will act as obstacles , it's OK for the odd flight in and out but regular aviation I have my dounts.

Punjab and Haryana will certainly update their airports and add a few new ones in coming yrs. but as of now I'm not aware of new projects.

thats what I said - good if Taj makes it despite the big hurdles it faces but in all fairness the upcoming Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 ,5 and 6 to follow in addition to the Terminal 1 and 2 which exist should be sufficient for the long term too.

Safdurjung is currently not operations , apart from the Lyutens no fly zone issue , it has a tiny runway and many important landmarks which will act as obstacles , it's OK for the odd flight in and out but regular aviation I have my dounts.

Punjab and Haryana will certainly update their airports and add a few new ones in coming yrs. but as of now I'm not aware of new projects.

I think that over all you are right, Dial has got big plans, but it will take them a long time to implement them. If the Taj takes off Delhi will have another Terminal within 3 years, which is good for competition.

I also think Delhi as the capital of a Great Nation should have a second airport as a matter of prestige even if economically it doesn't make sense.

Also, personally i do not like the concept of having so many terminals in one airport. It just makes life more complicated for the passengers. Having a separate airport might just delay the need to have 6 terminals!!

Having Heathrow, Stansted,Gatewick,Luton & City airport serving london makes life easy for everyone i have been to all off them, Delhi people should also have the choice which we enjoy.:cheers:

Little logic issue with the last article. Both the White House and Buckingham Palace are no-fly zones. In fact, cases of unauthorized private aircraft flying over the United States National Mall make national news. Safdarjung Airport is a small airfield inside the heart of the city, hardly suitable for general aviation.

I think that at this time comparing the London air system to Delhi's is comparing apples to oranges. London's air system is the largest in the world with over 100 million pax/yr and deals with an enormous amount of international transfer traffic. There will be a time when Delhi's airport system should expand to multiple airports. However, right now, adding another airport to Delhi would unnecessarily burden DIAL with losses in traffic and reduce the potential for economies of scale as well as easy transfers.

The country’s highest law officer, the attorney general of India, has told the Centre that setting up a greenfield airport in Greater Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi would clearly violate the agreement signed between the GMR group-led consortium upgrading the Capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and the ministry of civil aviation.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/AG-grounds-second-Delhi-airport/354331/

Is the government bound to pay compensation to the consortium which is modernising the Delhi airport in case another international airport is also allowed to come up at Greater Noida?


http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14637683

Is the government bound to pay compensation to the consortium which is modernising the Delhi airport in case another international airport is also allowed to come up at Greater Noida?


http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14637683


DIAL hold right of first refusal and if they don't agree then no airport can come up within 150 Km radius for at least the next 30 yrs. or in this case 30 yrs. from the date when GMR took over IGI.

Whatever the outcome i do hope they do not close the door for a second airport even if Dial owns it, which is even better. The final choose should really lie with the Delhi people if they want another airport.

Little logic issue with the last article. Both the White House and Buckingham Palace are no-fly zones. In fact, cases of unauthorized private aircraft flying over the United States National Mall make national news. Safdarjung Airport is a small airfield inside the heart of the city, hardly suitable for general aviation.

I think that at this time comparing the London air system to Delhi's is comparing apples to oranges. London's air system is the largest in the world with over 100 million pax/yr and deals with an enormous amount of international transfer traffic. There will be a time when Delhi's airport system should expand to multiple airports. However, right now, adding another airport to Delhi would unnecessarily burden DIAL with losses in traffic and reduce the potential for economies of scale as well as easy transfers.

I am not trying to compare the two, compare is to strong a word, what i really mean is the consumer should have choice, Delhi should have updated the facilities in the early nineties, we should already have 5 terminals. Now that they have got the desire to build every encouragement should be given to them to go further. Dial is a very strong organisation, i think that they can easily build a second airport, by the sound of it, it looks like they hold all the aces. I think that Millions of passengers have avoided delhi for obvious reasons, once T3 comes up they will all come back.

Little logic issue with the last article. Both the White House and Buckingham Palace are no-fly zones. In fact, cases of unauthorized private aircraft flying over the United States National Mall make national news. Safdarjung Airport is a small airfield inside the heart of the city, hardly suitable for general aviation.

I think that at this time comparing the London air system to Delhi's is comparing apples to oranges. London's air system is the largest in the world with over 100 million pax/yr and deals with an enormous amount of international transfer traffic. There will be a time when Delhi's airport system should expand to multiple airports. However, right now, adding another airport to Delhi would unnecessarily burden DIAL with losses in traffic and reduce the potential for economies of scale as well as easy transfers.

The 5 London Airports - Passenger Traffic:

Heathrow : 70 Million (2 runways - Estimated to become 80 million by 2010/2011)
Gatwick : 35 Milliion (Single Runway - soon to become 40 million)
Stansted : 25 Million (Single Runway - plans to increase capacity to 35 million)
Luton : 10 Million
City airport : 3 Million
-------------------------------------------------
London Total : 143 Million Passengers
-------------------------------------------------

All the runways are utilized to max efficiency. So thats just a bit less than double 'the total pax of the 4 metros plus Bangalore and Hyderabad put together'.
Agree with you - The above is incomparable to Delhi or any Indian city in terms of passenger numbers.

Unless there are very difficult bottlenecks in making a full fledged high capacity airport like for example saturation in airspace, it makes sense to plan and invest on having one airport with more satellites or piers, and services(allied infrastructure) like seamless connectivity to that airport - than having an extra similar airport where we have to spend more on the airport itself plus duplicating connectivity to that new airport. What about unnecessary congestion in this new area. The list can be extended ...

Choice: With 'one bigger airport that is connected to everywhere' rather than 'two for the sake of two' the passenger gets more choice of airline in general and if (s)he is a transit passenger gets more choice in flight plan. Moreover congestion due to avoidable inter airport travel by the transit passenger and the costs involved are saved.

Our politicians nowdays push for more airports for a city mainly for their own sakes and not necessarily because it benefits us. Not only it may not benefit us but such irrationally pushed development can lead to chaos both in the air and land. We should have second airports only when we really *need it in the distant future and at that future time of *need they need to be constructed/begin from conception to the state of the art standards of the time.

Thats MHO.

*need - need includes proactiveness. anyway it only takes 3 years to build a new airport

No plans to be completed by Commonwealth Games?

Ten cities, including the six metros, will need another airport by 2020, according to a study by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

While nine -- Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Amritsar -- will need a second airport, Mumbai, where a second airport is already coming up, will need a third, the study says.

According to the report, around $30 billion will have to be invested to develop various airports in the country. This is apart from the $9 billion that Civil Aviation Joint Secretary KN Shrivastava said would be spent in the next four-and-a-half years by the Airports Authority of India and private developers.

Mumbai and Delhi airports, being modernised by the private sector, handle more than 20 million passengers per annum and will be saturated by 2010, when passenger traffic touches 25-30 million in Mumbai and 30-40 million in Delhi, the study has found.

The existing airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad will be saturated in 2008, when the traffic will touch 10 million. That is when the two greenfield airports in these cities are expected to be operational.

Kolkata Airport, which handles more than 5 million passengers, will need a second airport by 2010, in spite of the proposed modernisation of the airport by the Airport Authority of India. While most metros will reach the saturation point by 2010, the non-metros will be saturated by 2015, the report says.

However, the industry is divided whether the country should go for more airports or replace the existing airports with new ones. Air Deccan Chairman G Gopinath said the government's decision to close down the existing airports was impractical.

"Nowhere in the world have we seen airports being closed down. Why should Delhi have one airport or why should the existing Bangalore Airport be closed after the new one comes up? Competing airports help segregate traffic. In Hyderabad and Bangalore, the government monopoly has been replaced with a private monopoly. What we need is competition between airports so that the carriers get the best service and price," said Gopinath.

Kingfisher chief Vijay Mallya said a few days ago that the existing airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad should not be closed down.

Says Kapil Kaul, CEO, CAPA, "Technically, closing down an airport seems unfeasible when we are talking of such a huge growth in traffic."

Some industry experts say a few cities do need new airports in place of the existing ones.

"Pune Airport handles around 1.5 million passengers per year. With all the development work going on, we will need another airport in 2012, when the passenger traffic reaches 3 million, but there should be an alternative airport to handle all the traffic. We do not need two airports for Pune," said a Pune airport official.

Currently, there are three second-airport projects already in various stages of discussions in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.

The Rs 9,000-crore (Rs 90 billion) Navi Mumbai airport project, promoted by the Maharashtra government-owned City & Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) has already received cabinet approval recently. The greenfield airport project will be spread over 2,058 hectares. The third airport in Mumbai is supposed to come up at Thane.

Delhi's second international greenfield airport will come up at Jewar in Greater Noida. The civil aviation ministry has already received a techno-economic feasibility report on the Rs 3,505 crore (Rs 35.05 billion) airport project which will come up in 1,500 hectares of land.

The second airport at Chennai will come up in Sriperumbudur and Tiruvallur Taluka near Chennai. The greenfield airport will be set up on 4,820.66 acres of land.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/05airport.htm

Its not only Politicians who feel the need

India is now the fastest growing aviation market in the world.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6640147.stm

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/05airport.htm


That i think is a bit of exaggeration....

If the new terminal 3 at IGI will cater for 100 million passengers then there is no need for another airport. We will have to give GMR the benefit of the doubt when it completes T3 and perhaps more terminals in due course to see how well it handles the traffic/demand. congestion etc.

If it gets the go-head then fine as it takes time to construct the infrastructure etc.

Maybe this Taj can be built in eastern UP or in Lucknow for people over there to use.
The name is appropriate for that region and those people living far from delhi can go here.

Cov Boy, T3 is to handle 40mil pax/yr. However, you are right in that the full build-out system of T3-T6 is to handle around 100mil pax/yr.

The rediff article seems highly exaggerated. Since when does a city generating 3 mil passengers per year need multiple airports? Since when does a city generating 10mil passengers per year need multiple airports? Consider that modern airports handle far greater traffic than airports built with older design.

Here's a case study - Boston, MA, USA's airport system:

In the Boston metro area (population - 8 mil), there are 5 airports with the capability to serve commercial aircraft (data below). In addition to these 5, there are at least 10-20 municipal airstrips serving GA traffic operating under 10,000ft.

Airports overview:

(BOS) Boston-Logan International Airport, East Boston, MA
Distance to downtown Boston: <10km
Pax/yr: 28 mil
Runways: 6
Aerobridges/Gates: 102

(PVD) T. F. Green Airport, Warwick (Providence), RI
Distance to downtown Boston: 100km
Pax/yr: 5 mil
Runways: 2
Aerobridges/Gates: 22

(MHT) Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, Manchester, NH
Distance to downtown Boston: 80km
Pax/yr: 4 mil
Runways: 2
Aerobridges/Gates: 15

(BED) Hanscom Field/AFB, Bedford, MA
Distance to downtown Boston: 30km
Pax/yr: ~0 mil
Runways: 2
Aerobridges/Gates: ~2

(ORH) Worcester Regional Airport, Worcester, MA
Distance to downtown Boston: 70km
Pax/yr: ~0 mil
Runways: 2
Aerobridges/Gates: 5

Total system traffic: ~37 mil pax/yr

The first conclusion from the data is that smaller airport systems often do require multiple airports. However, remember that BOS is an old airport built on a design that today seems almost incomprehensible. The airport has 3 pairs of runways in different directions. Runway length varies from 800m to 3000m and the taxiway design as well as runway placement create one of the highest rates of runway incursions in the world. The land is totally built out, with the last runway having been constructed as a unidirectional runway built entirely on harbor fill. There is absolutely no space for new terminal construction. As such, similar conditions do exist at CSIA, but definitely not at DIAL, where there is ample space for 4 parallel runways as well as a central terminal complex.

The second and third airports are primarily reliever airports, initially built to serve smaller cities within the metro area, but now serving the entire Boston population. They are on the fringes of the metro area and often take somewhat longer to get to. Their benefit is that as smaller airports, it takes less time to get through the system and the environment is in general more pleasant. However, it is important to note that most of these two airports' traffic is driven by LCC giant Southwest Airlines. Without SWA, these airports would still be minor airports serving primarily the smaller cities adjacent to them. Similar situations exist with the airport system in London. If another airport is to be built in Delhi, it would only be sensible to aim it for LCC traffic, but Taj International Airport certainly doesn't seem to convey that sort of plan.

Also note that because Boston is in the extreme northeast corner of the country, almost all of its traffic is O&D. Very few transfers happen here, which is totally different from the probable future case in Delhi. When traffic is mostly O&D, it doesn't really matter how many connections the airport has, but when you need to transfer, it is ridiculous to have airlines spread out over multiple airports. This would be a huge problem for Delhi.

The fourth and fifth airports present another lesson to future Indian airport builders. The fourth, Bedford, never got off the ground because the local residents did not want it and would not allow a highway access road to be built. Thankfully not to much was done before it was realized that Bedford would not work. The fifth, Worcester, had enough surrounding population and enough local support to make it happen, but road access is even worse than in Bedford and cannot be fixed without spending as much money as the value of the airport. So now, that airport has a gleaming new terminal with nearly no flights to serve it.

New airports make sense when there is an inherent, insurmountable problem with the old airport, like not enough land to expand. However, building airports for the sake of building airports, though perhaps a great play for a politician, is one of the worst things that can be done for the city at large.

Pvt airports attract soaring corporate interest

Anirban Chowdhury / New Delhi September 5, 2008, 0:45 IST


The downturn in the aviation industry has not discouraged real estate companies, flying academies and large industrial houses from India eyeing private airport development.


Real estate and infrastructure firms like Super Airport Infrastructure, General Aviation Airfield and Infrastructure, Anant Raj Industries, Adarsh Prime Projects and Aero Ports and Infrastructure Projects Pvt Limited have submitted proposals to the government to build airports at various remote parts of the country.

These include Karaikal in Puducherry, Paladi Ramsinghpur in Rajasthan, Saswad in Pune and Pernem in Goa.

Apart from these, a proposal for an airport at Dabra, Gwalior to be built by Gwalior Agriculture Company is also under the ministry’s consideration. Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Limited (BAPL), which is developing the first private airport at Durgapur, has also sent a proposal for an airport at Ludhiana.

These are apart from biggies like Reliance Airport Developers, which has submitted a proposal for an airport in Singhrauli near Sasan in Madhya Pradesh, where it is building a 4,000 Mw power project, apart from the cargo airport at Jhajjar in Haryana.

Anant Raj Industries for instance, apart from commercial construction, is also involved in constructing special economic zones (SEZs), hotels and IT parks. The firm has tied up with Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance ADAG to set up two hotels and an SEZ project together.

Super Airport, which has conducted a feasibility study, expects to rope in non-resident Indians for Karaikal, which has a temple as the major attraction. Rajasthan Aero Sports, which is a flying academy, is also planning to set a private airport in Paladi-Ramsinghpur.

The civil aviation ministry has received five such airport proposals for captive use. Another five proposals are for airports that will be put to public use.

LANDING AN OPPORTUNITY
Airport applications for captive use

Location State Company
Saswad, Pune Maharashtra General Aviation Airfield
Sonepat Haryana Anant Raj Industries Ltd.
Pernem Goa Aero Ports and Infrastructure Projects Pvt. Ltd.
Singhrauli (Sasan) Madhya Pradesh Reliance Airport Developers Pvt Ltd.
Adarsh Palm Retreat Bangalore -Karnataka -Adarsh Prime Projects Pvt Ltd.

Karaikal Puducherry Super Airport Infrastructure (I) Pvt. Ltd.
Ludhiana Punjab Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd.
Paladi-Ramsinghpur -Rajasthan -Rajasthan Aero Sports Club Pvt. Ltd.


The government had recently announced a greenfield airport policy under which all such proposals would be routed through the steering committee set up by the ministry of civil aviation to give quicker clearances.

“The private-use airports will be built on a much smaller scale, but the airports for public use will be mid-sized, which will be able to handle aircraft like the A320s, if not bigger ones,” said a civil aviation ministry official.

A recent status report on various greenfield airports by the ministry said the proposals are at various stages of consideration.

Airports Authority of India (AAI), the country’s public sector airport developer, has already conducted the mandatory site inspection for Karaikal and Dabra.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has given in-principal approval to the airport proposed at Pernem. Other proposals like the ones for private use at Paladi-Ramsinghpur, Saswad (Pune), Sonepat (Haryana), and one at Adarsh Palm Retreat, Bangalore, are still under consideration.

Apart from these private airports, there are several state government proposals for airports at Chakan and Sindhdurg in Maharashtra, which are awaiting in-principal approval.

Last year, the Karnataka government awarded the Simoga airport to a consortium of Maytas Infrastructure (promoted by the promoters of IT services group Satyam) and VIE India Project Development and Holding LLC.

The state government had also awarded the work for developing a greenfield airport in Hassan to Jupiter Aviation and Logistics Ltd.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=333551

Source: Chillibreeze

http://www.window2india.com/cms/admin/article.jsp?aid=5591

If you drive towards Greater Noida from Delhi, the scenario suddenly changes. After the traffic jams and the unending bottlenecks in Delhi, Noida comes as a breath of fresh air. The roads are wider, well marked and brightly lit. Traffic moves smoothly, and there is greenery all around. The houses are posh, and it is clear that there is no dearth of money in these parts.

So why shouldn’t Greater Noida have an airport of its own? After all, it is a mini city in itself, as the Uttar Pradesh government insists, and why should its residents have to drive all that way to Delhi to board a flight?

Objections

The Union Finance and Law Ministries are the ones putting a spoke in the wheel. They argue about the mammoth project not being viable as there is already a perfectly good airport at Delhi, which can take care of all traffic in and around the outskirts of Delhi. Now that the Delhi International Airport is being given a facelift, along with its modernization, it is estimated that it will be able to carry one million passengers by 2026. So why spend time and money on a second airport? Is it needed?

Proposal for the new airport

The Civil Aviation Ministry, however, begs to differ. It senses money coming into its coffers by 2011 – a whopping Rs 170 crore! The UP government had done its homework and suggested that by 2015, the congestion that would swamp Delhi airport would be to the tune of about 108 million, and that a second airport would help share the load. Initially, about 5% of the passenger load and around 8% of cargo traffic would be shifted to the new airport, which would decongest Delhi airport, and help improve its facilities.

The reasoning seems to have convinced Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who has confirmed that the new airport will come up at Jewar, two hours away from Delhi. This has been one of the quickest ever projects approved by the Ministry, and will be known as the Taj International Airport Hub by the UP government.

The construction and management of the project will be handled by a private company after bidding, and a 26% stake divided between the Airports Authority of India and the UP government under the aegis of the Taj Expressway Authority. The project will be spread over 1,500 hectares of agricultural land.

Competition
Healthy competition is always good and a second airport round the corner would do away with monopoly, and guarantee that the airport authorities are kept on their toes to ensure the best facilities for the passengers, who would now have a choice. Even cities like New York and London have two airports to reduce congestion.

The final decision is yet to be taken with Ministries at loggerheads over the project. Why shouldn’t there be a second airport when the fact of the matter is that the Indira Gandhi International Airport is not expected to lose out on revenue or passenger load? Is it the case of a dog in the manger attitude on the part of the Finance and Law Ministries? With population levels sky rocketing and travel turning into an international hobby, will there ever be a dearth of traffic?

nnnn

108 million pax in 7 years is the height of exaggeration , currently air traffic stands at 24 million per annum and the aviation ministry is set for a 1-2 yr. mini-slump . How this figure was arrived at is any body's guess.

^^ at a sustained growth rate of 10% pa the figure stands at around 50 mil passengers at the end of 7 years. This not accounting for the slowdown. so i agree, the numbers look unrealistic!!

G Noida airport: Proposal for 4 runways
The Greater Noida Authority is set to prepare a proposal to construct four runways in the upcoming international airport at Greater Noida. According to the new plan, area for the airport will be increased to 2,500 acres at Jhevar. The proposal, if approved, will make it the third airport in the country with four runways. The decision was taken at a meeting attended by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) Lalit Srivastava and T Rambol, consultant of the Hyderabad-based company G M Rao Infrastructure. The company is at present handling construction of the

http://news.noida-properties.com/704/greater-noida-airport-project-faces-hurdle/

..

wrong post

DREAMS GROUNDED?
Greater Noida airport not feasible, says AG report
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: An adverse opinion by Attorney General Milon Banerjee may have put on hold the capital’s dream of getting on par with other global cities like London or New York by having multiple airports and passengers choosing the more convenient one.

The opinion of AG is likely to shape the discussion in the Group of Ministers set up to discuss UP chief minister Mayawati’s proposal for an international airport at Greater Noida.

While giving in-principal approval to this project this February — when Congress and BSP were still UPA allies — the Cabinet had formed a lawyer-cum-minister GoM to examine the legal aspect of this vis-a-vis the government’s pact with GMR Group for modernizing the IGI Airport. This GoM — comprising of finance minister P Chidambaram, science and technology minister Kapil Sibal, law minister H R Bhardwaj and aviation minister Praful Patel — had also sought the law ministry’s advice. The ministry, in turn, sought the Attorney General’s view.

According to sources, Banerjee in his report held that having another airport within 150km of IGI would be violative of the government’s agreement with the GMR Group. The Group has been saying that its development plans for IGI — that will allow the airport to handle 37 million passengers by 2010 and ultimately have a capacity of 100 million by 2026 — were sufficient to meet the requirement of Delhi and nearby feeder areas like the NCR.

Moreover, the developer has contended that while signing the agreement for IGI it was not told of any second airport coming up for Delhi. The policy at the time was of not allowing two airports within 150km of each other. Keeping all these factors in mind, the AG is learnt to have given an opinion against a second airport for Delhi. This could also have a fallout for Haryana’s proposal for another airport and perhaps leave Delhiites with just one functional airport with contractual restrictions on another one coming up, like Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Armed with this report, the GoM is now unlikely to rule in favour of Mayawati’s proposal — especially in wake of the estranged ties between the Congress and BSP now. The Greater Noida airport has been Mayawati’s

Sanjiv Rastogi dream for many years.

However, political circles are closely watching Tuesday’s GoM meeting for another reason. Mayawati had recently cancelled the 189 acres of land given to build a rail coach factory in Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s “karmabhoomi” Rae Bareli. But she restored this land a few days back and now political circles are wondering if Delhi would return the favour. The chances of this remain slim for two reasons — soured political relations between Congress and BSP and overall fall in traffic. The GMR Group has contended that having two airports at this time would mean none of them is financially strong as traffic would get divided. “Once there is adequate traffic for multiple airports, they can survive. otherwise both will find it hard to survive, just like today’s airlines when there are too many planes chasing too few fliers,” said an industry insider.

that should settle matters for good .

and here we go again..

Centre asks UP to prepare new report on Greater Noida airport (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_centre-asks-up-to-prepare-new-report-on-greater-noida-airport_1314737)


New Delhi: The Centre has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to prepare a fresh feasibility report on the proposed greenfield airport in Greater Noida.

A group of ministers (GoM) considered the proposal of the Uttar Pradesh government for 'in principle' approval to set up an international airport in Jevar.

However after studying the proposal, the Centre asked the state government to prepare a supplementary Techno Economic Feasibility Report, official sources said.

The plan for the Rs 5,000 crore Taj International Airport Hub (TIAH) was first conceptualised in 2001 by the then Mayawati government and required acquisition of 1,500 hectares of land.

The biggest hurdle confronting TIAH, one of the most ambitious projects of Chief Minister Mayawati, was that it fell within 70 km of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport and was not allowed under aviation laws.

But the new greenfield airport policy, approved last year, removed the hurdles by stating that a proposal to set up an airport within 150 km of an existing airport would be considered by a Steering Committee.

The Committee would consider all relevant facts and circumstances including contractual liabilities. After its nod, the proposal would be sent to the civil aviation ministry which shall place it before Union Cabinet for consideration.

The project went into rough waters due to differences between the Centre and the state government.

I am hearing this airport from years and if the same flip flop happens with state and centre this will never come up in reality

and here we go again..

Centre asks UP to prepare new report on Greater Noida airport (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_centre-asks-up-to-prepare-new-report-on-greater-noida-airport_1314737)

this airport as real as mayawati -the prime minister!

In a move that Greater Noida officials admit may bring down property prices in the area, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to shift its proposal for an international airport from Greater Noida to Meerut.

In a public notice, Ravindra Singh, UP's principal secretary for civil aviation, has invited bids for appointment of consultants for setting up an international airport at Meerut, to be implemented in the public-private partnership mode on design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis. These consultants will later work in the capacity of project management consultants. Ravindra Singh was not available for comment.

Though an international airport at Meerut may attract some travellers heading to Delhi, the project mainly seeks to cater to western UP and Uttarakhand.

Said Shravan Kumar Sharma, Meerut divisional commissioner, "We already have an airstrip at Partapur in Meerut. It is a small strip which will be lengthened to make it suitable for large jets to land and take off. The facilities will be upgraded and made fit for use as an international airport."

Sharma refused to confirm reports that the state government had already released Rs 73 crore for the purpose of compensating those whose lands may be acquired for the airport. Sharma is ex-officio chairman of the Meerut Development Authority which has been appointed the nodal authority for the project.

Mohinder Singh, chairman of Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. But a senior GNIDA official, not wishing to be named, said, "There obviously cannot be two airports as close to each other as Meerut and Greater Noida. So hopes of an airport in Greater Noida will have to be given up. And there might be a decline in land prices here, just as there was an escalation with hopes of an airport coming."

Ajit Sisodia, a realtor in Greater Noida, agreed. "There will be a drop in both purchases and rates of property in Greater Noida when people come to know that consultants are being called in to build an airport in Meerut. People may even start taking refunds," he said.

However, Meerut MP Rajendra Agarwal is not convinced that the state government is serious about building an international airport in Meerut. "The state government had not even sought the Union government's approval for an airport in Meerut at least until mid-December last year. I think some people in power merely want to push up land prices in Partapur so that properties owned by certain individuals can be sold at very high rates."

Inquiries made by TOI revealed that land rates in the area had indeed gone up considerably in the past few weeks, ever since talk of an airport in the area gathered momentum.

Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/UP-for-Meerut-airport-G-Noida-realty-may-skid/articleshow/5605019.cms)

Meerut but i thought that Meerut was going to come under the NCR soon anyway , so what is the real game plan.

Meerut but i thought that Meerut was going to come under the NCR soon anyway , so what is the real game plan.

Meerut is in NCR !!

Even as the state government on Tuesday clarified that international airports at Jevar in Greater Noida and Meerut were separate projects, a delegation of MPs from UP met Union civil aviation minister Prafull Patel and requested him to clear the project of Taj International Airport at Jevar as soon as possible.

The state government through a press statement said that while the international airport at Jevar is an entirely new project, the one in Meerut is to upgrade the existing airstrip into an airport of international standard. The Meerut airport will be developed on public-private-partnership model, it stated.

On the other hand, a 12-member delegation of BSP MPs comprising Akhilesh Das, Surendra Singh Nagar, Vijay Bahadur Singh, Ambeth Rajan, Baliram, Dara Singh Chauhan, Avtar Singh, Ramashankar Rajbhar, Ashok Rawat, Bhishm Shivshankar Tiwari, Rampal and Gorakhnath Pandey met Union civil aviation minister in New Delhi.

The delegation told the minister the only condition laid before placing Jevar airport project for the Union cabinet approval was that the ‘‘first right of refusal’’ will be vested with the promoter company of the Indira Gandhi International Airport and that the promoter will also get 10% price preference.

The state government had then also assured the Union government that Taj Expressway Authority will be the nodal agency for Taj International Airport and that the state government will have representation in the ‘special purpose vehicle’ (SPV) for the project, the delegation told the minister.

The delegation said all the conditions laid by the Union government were fulfilled by the state government in 2007, hence now there should be no delay in granting approval to the Jevar airport project.

Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Meerut-and-Greater-Noida-projects-are-separate-/articleshow/5609343.cms)

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Hindustan Times

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Times of India

BSP supremo Mayawati's pet project, the Greater Noida airport , will have to wait more for clearance as the meeting of the group of ministers formed to look into the proposal has been deferred to August 24 on request of the civil aviation ministry.

The GoM was earlier scheduled to meet on July 15.

The Uttar Pradesh government had sent a new report on the Greater Noida Airport sometime in late June, which was sent to the Department of Economic Affairs for its comments, based on which the ministry will prepare a self-contained proposal on the mooted facility, senior ministry officials told ET.

The ministry has also sent the report to the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which has modernised the IGI airport in the national capital, for it to give its views, they added.

The DIAL has appointed the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), an intergovernmental body that helps to plan and develop global air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth, to study the air traffic for the region.

Times of India (Full story) (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Delhi/Wait-for-Greater-Noida-airport-gets-longer/articleshow/6170761.cms)

Times of India (Full story) (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Delhi/Wait-for-Greater-Noida-airport-gets-longer/articleshow/6170761.cms)

Is there any design been given for this airport, to show how it gonna look.Will it be bigger then IGI and what about Gurgaon?Are they plannin to have any airport as well? Cheers:cheers:

double post

Is there any design been given for this airport, to show how it gonna look.

The airport is still proposed by UP govt. its not approved by central govt. till date. So how can anybody will make a design of something which is in preliminary proposal stage only.

Will it be bigger then IGI

No, it will not. IGI will be the biggest airport of India may be Mumbai can be bigger then that in future.

and what about Gurgaon?Are they plannin to have any airport as well? Cheers:cheers:

Gurgaoin will never get a Airport, also its not requied as IGI is just next door and even gonna connect via metro.

Is there any design been given for this airport, to show how it gonna look.Will it be bigger then IGI and what about Gurgaon?Are they plannin to have any airport as well? Cheers:cheers:

Its proposed capacity is 84 mn with 4 runways (vs 100+ million for IGI with 4 runways).

No, it will not. IGI will be the biggest airport of India may be Mumbai can be bigger then that in future.

Mumbai airport's max capacity is 40 mn. Out of all the airports I have heard of, only Hyderabad airport and Greater Noida airport seam to be that large to hold 4 runways (or rather designed with keeping 4 runways in mind). But it may take Hyderabad half a century to reach 4 runways at full capacity. So IGI is supposed to be the biggest airport in India for decades to come, unless suddenly a new larger airport comes up.

The babus who have proposed to build an airport at Greater Noida seem to be smoking some very Potent Stuff. A 84 Million Pasenger airport indeed :lol:
Fact is DIAL would take atleast another 25 Years to reach its full potential (very aggresive projections).Where would the trafffic generate to and fro if Noida airport of Phase 1 of even 10 Million passengers comes up? It would unnecassarily jeopardise the viability of DIAL airport's expansion proposals.

Mayawati has been pushing for an airport even when she was the CM last time around.She has purchased a lot of land near the proposed airport , it is for this reason Mulayam Singh did not show any intrest for this airport during his tenure.Now that Mayawati is in Power she wants to make sure she is able to reap the windfall.

The babus who have proposed to build an airport at Greater Noida seem to be smoking some very Potent Stuff. A 84 Million Pasenger airport indeed :lol:
Fact is DIAL would take atleast another 25 Years to reach its full potential (very aggresive projections).Where would the trafffic generate to and fro if Noida airport of Phase 1 of even 10 Million passengers comes up? It would unnecassarily jeopardise the viability of DIAL airport's expansion proposals.

Mayawati has been pushing for an airport even when she was the CM last time around.She has purchased a lot of land near the proposed airport , it is for this reason Mulayam Singh did not show any intrest for this airport during his tenure.Now that Mayawati is in Power she wants to make sure she is able to reap the windfall.

offcourse the majority of traffic generated in delhi is not of delhi...it belongs to UP,Punjab,Haryana and Rajasthan.....so UP wants to have its passy under its own airport at G Noida....Mayawati had announced in 2007 that UP will stand equal to maharashtra and that it will have its own Mumbai...god knows where is that mumbai...maybe partly in noida region and partly in lucknow-Kanpur industrial belt....

Even if we take the projected UP air travellers figures, there is no way even in the next 40 yrs that it will justify an airport of 84 Million capacity.

With Jaipur airport in Rajasthan, Amritsar/Chandigarh in Punjab and Lucknow airport in UP growing and even starting international ops, Delhi will be seeing an erosion of passengers from these regions, so it will be hard pressed to first reach its 100 Million capacity.

The Grater Noida airport, if it moves ahead will be one financial nightmare for the GMR group.

Even if we take the projected UP air travellers figures, there is no way even in the next 40 yrs that it will justify an airport of 84 Million capacity.

With Jaipur airport in Rajasthan, Amritsar/Chandigarh in Punjab and Lucknow airport in UP growing and even starting international ops, Delhi will be seeing an erosion of passengers from these regions, so it will be hard pressed to first reach its 100 Million capacity.

The Grater Noida airport, if it moves ahead will be one financial nightmare for the GMR group.

you are forgetting Kushinagar International Airport in UP

- The Rs 560-crore greenfield Kushinagar international airport project in Uttar Pradesh is finally ready to take off.

- The project, which is being touted as integral for the integrated development of the entire Buddhist circuit, is to be built under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode on a design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) basis.

- It may be mentioned that the circuit is a big draw among Buddhists pilgrims, particularly from East Asia, South-East-Asia and South Asia but tourism prospects in the area still suffer due to the lack of infrastructure facilities. It is this gap that the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Corporation (UPTDC), which is pursuing the project, aims to fill by commissioning an international airport in the area.

- An international airport at Kushinagar is necessary to cater to the traffic originating from Japan, China, Taiwan, Myanmar, South Korea, Bhutan, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/kushinagar-airport-gets-centre-nod-to-invite-bids/544270/

Mayawati has been pushing for an airport even when she was the CM last time around.She has purchased a lot of land near the proposed airport , it is for this reason Mulayam Singh did not show any intrest for this airport during his tenure.Now that Mayawati is in Power she wants to make sure she is able to reap the windfall.

You have it right.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meerut-airport-grounded-up-feels-jewar-read/697861/



The Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to drop the plan to develop an airport to be named after Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar in Partapur, about 16 km from Meerut, is being seen as an attempt to save the prospects of another proposed international airport in western Uttar Pradesh — the Taj International Airport in Jewar.



With things moving in a positive direction for Mayawati’s dream project in Jewar, Meerut was seen as a hurdle that could have diluted the case for Jewar because of the distance between the two airports being less than 100 km. Jewar is currently awaiting clearance due to its proximity to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.



The official reason given for cancelling the Meerut plan is problems related to land acquisition.

Sources in the government say some of the big players had even started showing interest in the Meerut airport, which had been given in-principle approval by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The international airport in Jewar is one of the dream projects of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, falling along the route of the ambitious Yamuna Expressway project.



As per rules, no airport can be constructed within 150 km of an existing airport, while less than 100 km separates Jewar and IGI. However, after a meeting of the Group of Ministers over the issue about three months ago, the state government feels that the chances of Jewar getting a clearance have increased.



BSP MPs have taken their case for the airport to both Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel as well as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Even Mayawati has made a personal appeal to the Centre several times to clear the airport, as it would “fuel the growth of Uttar Pradesh”.

I tried but could not find anything more recent than this. Can anyone give updates? Personally, I feel Agra needs an international airport so as to have direct flights between international destinations and Agra, bypassing Delhi. It could and can be a world tourist hub far bigger than it is but for government myopia.

Can Agra be souped and marketed as a global tourist destination? Had it been in China, I dare say Agra would have been far ahead of what it is.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/jewar-airport-may-take-off-with-ajit-singh-as-aviation-minister/890080/

Jewar airport may take off with Ajit Singh as aviation minister

Lucknow: With RLD chief Ajit Singh taking over as the new Union civil aviation minister, hope has been kindled for Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati’s long-cherished dream of having a greenfield Taj international airport and aviation hub (TIAH) at Jewar, near the national capital. The question whether a new airport should be allowed within 70 km of an existing airport, as it may hamper the business prospects of the existing one, has come in the way of the proposed airport in Greater Noida.

Proposed way back in 2001, the aviation hub was conceptualised to ease traffic at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. The project was also given a techno-feasibility clearance by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in 2003, during Mayawati’s earlier stint as chief minister. However, innumerable efforts of the state government in the last four-and-a-half years to get the project off the ground have borne little fruit and according to senior officials, the only reason for the project not seeing the light of day is the Centre’s objection.

“Despite the fact that traffic figures prove that a second airport near Delhi is indeed essential, the Centre has refused to give a go-ahead on it. But now that we have a new civil aviation minister, and that too from the region where this airport is to come up, we hope that he is able to convince the Centre on the need and importance of the airport for the people of his region,” said an official, requesting anonymity.

The official cited an AAI study stating that by 2015-16, air traffic at the IGI Airport will hit the 108-million mark, which would lead to severe congestion. “A second airport such as the TIAH is the only answer to this problem,” he stated.

In fact, in order to address the issue of revenue collection, the UP government had in 2007 also given a written assurance to the Centre that it would abide by the contractual agreement entered into by the Government of India’s civil aviation department with the GMR Group, promoters of Delhi International Airport, in case any loss of revenue is reported. And ever since Mayawati came to power, she has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh several times on this issue, requesting him to clear the matter at the earliest.

The state has accusing the Centre of dilly-dallying on the R3,500-crore project. “The only reason for the project to be put into cold storage is that the Centre does not want the BSP government to take the credit for development in the state. But now that RLD chief Ajit Singh has become a partner in the Congress-led UPA coalition, it remains to be seen how much he is able to work to the benefit of his constituency and the state,” said another official who had been instrumental in getting the project cleared in 2003.

[U]
The official cited an AAI study stating that by 2015-16, air traffic at the IGI Airport will hit the [B]108-million mark, which would lead to severe congestion.

:lol: Who conducts such studies!!

2015-16 :lol:
the menace known to us as AAI has projected these figures. It should be taken with a share of a bit of salt and a hearty laughter :smug:

Teh airport has been moved to Mathura-

May 8: Jewar airport, Maya's dream project, scrapped (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/UttarPradesh/Jewar-airport-Maya-s-dream-project-scrapped/Article1-852782.aspx)

Fed up with the Centre's stand on the proposed airport at Jewar in Greater Noida, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided not to go ahead with the aviation project. It was a long-cherished dream of former UP chief minister Mayawati to have a greenfield Taj international airport and aviation hub (TIAH) at Jewar.

The government's decision has come as a shock to residents and realty sector as even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had advocated for the Jewar project. Now the state government is exploring possibilities to set up the facility either at Agra or Mathura.

"The central government, of late, has been saying that an airport cannot come up within 150 km of the one in Delhi. We're left with no other choice," state's industrial development commissioner Anil Kumar Gupta told Hindustan Times from Lucknow on Tuesday evening.

"The state government had been trying to start the project for the past 10 years. If the Centre does not allow it, we cannot keep waiting for another 20 years," Gupta said.

When asked about possible shifting of the project to Agra or Mathura, the industrial development commissioner said, "We have no special love for Agra. After the restriction of 150 km from the Delhi airport, we have to move back. Where does it take us to? The 150-km mark takes us to Mathura. The 200-km mark takes us to Agra. The project has to be in Uttar Pradesh. We cannot go to Faridabad or Chandigarh."

The Centre said an airport at Jewar could not be allowed as it might hamper the business prospects of the existing one in Delhi. "We accepted all conditions. We even said if GMR Group, promoters of IGI Airport in Delhi wants, it can build our airport. The Centre didn't agree," Gupta said.

The state government is asking the district magistrates of Agra and Mathura to identify land. "At Jewar we had not acquired land. The government had reserved it. Now our sole objective is to build an airport where we can actually build it. I have worked in Noida and Greater Noida. I don't think people there are ready to wait for another 50 years," he said.


May 21: International airport now at Mathura (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/251278/international-airport-now-)

After scrapping the previous Mayawati government’s decision to set-up an international airport at Jewar in Greater Noida, the SP government has decided to build it at Mathura, about 120 kilometre from Delhi.

According to sources here, the district administration in Mathura has identified the land on which the airport could come up. Sources said a proposal on this has been sent to the government for consideration.

Soon after assuming office, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had grounded the ambitious Jewar airport proposal mooted by the Mayawati regime. The new regime had asked the civil aviation department to identify land for the airport in Agra or Mathura.

Sources said that the Akhilesh regime felt that an airport at Mathura would be far more suitable for the large number of foreigners flocking the Taj city of Agra as well as the religious town of Mathura. The proposal could get full support of the union civil aviation minister Ajit Singh also as his son Jayant Chaudhary was member of Lok Sabha from Mathura.

Given the cordial relations between the SP regime and the Congress-led UPA government, the officials now feel that the proposal will finally get the necessary clearance. The airport could also give a major fillip to the tourism sector in the state, they say.

May 25: Baldeo village proposed as site for new airport (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/baldeo-village-proposed-as-site-for-new-airport/953768/)

The Mathura district administration has identified the land for the proposed international airport that the Akhilesh Yadav government wants to set up near Agra.

In a report sent to the government today, it proposed the area around Baldeo village, which falls on the Yamuna Expressway between Agra and Mathura districts. Baldeo is 25 km from Agra, 20 km from Mathura city, 130 km from Greater Noida and about 20 km from National Highway 2, which connects Delhi and Agra. The report says that about 300 (should be 3000) acres can easily be made available for the airport in the region. In fact, about 250 acres is already available with the government. It consists of land owned by the gram sabha and various government departments, including irrigation.

The administration had considered Mant area, from where Jayant Chaudhary, son of Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, had contested the Assembly election. But, in a survey, it was found that the area is densely populated and land acquisition could be problematic.

Baldeo village has religious significance — it is regarded as the birthplace of Balram, the elder brother of Lord Krishna, and has a popular temple.

An official said, “While a large chunk of land is available with the government, acquiring the remaining land should not be a problem as most of it is single-crop land. In its manifesto, the SP had promised to avoid acquisition of double-crop land. Also, the area is strategically located between two tourists spots and has good connectivity.’’

Unlike Jewar airport, where the previous Mayawati government was keen to build an international airport, this site is outside the 150-km radius of Delhi international airport.

The report will now go to the tourism department — the nodal department for the project.


June 11: Ajit Singh asks Akhilesh Yadav to send proposal for airport at Mathura (http://post.jagran.com/ajit-singh-asks-akhilesh-yadav-to-send-proposal-for-airport-at-mathura-1339415478)

New Delhi: Welcoming the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to scrap the Greenfield international airport project at Jewar, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh asked Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to send a fresh proposal for the same at Mathura to his ministry. In his letter to the chief minister, Singh said due to some "complicated issues" which remained unresolved for five years the proposed Taj International Aviation Hub (TIAH) with Greenfield airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar could not get clearance from a Group of Ministers (GoM).

The Minister said that the Taj trapezium zone needs a new world class airport to spur the growth of tourism and overall economic and industrial growth in the area.

"I would recommend a location at Mathura, preferably with an easy access to the expressway. I would request you to send the proposal for establishing a new greenfield airport at the proposed new location to my ministry for necessary clearances.

"I assure you that we will treat it as top priority and put it on fast track to fulfill the aspirations of the area and its people," Singh said in his letter.

He said the TIAH should be located near to the Taj but there should not be any conflict of airspace with the Indian Air Force airport at Agra. Possibility of legal or policy issues were ruled out. Last month, the Uttar Pradesh government has scrapped the Greenfield international airport project at Jewar mooted by the previous Mayawati government citing unavailability of the Centre's clearance for it.

The state government is planning to develop a new international airport between Agra and Mathura. The process of identifying land would be completed within a month and process of land acquisition would start after that.

The airport project at Jewar, which is less than about 70 km from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, has not been given clearance as it flouted the rule that no airport can be constructed within 150 km from an existing one. Despite repeated requests, the erstwhile BSP government could not get clearance for the project.


This Baldeo village is actually within the restricted 150km radius of IGI. The airport site they have identified should be a little further south-east from it:

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/7071/17156245.png