Making a major provision for the upcoming Noida Airport and rapid rail, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) on Tuesday announced a Rs 10,000 crore budget for the 2024-25 fiscal. 

The budget earmarked significant funds for the upcoming Noida International Airport at Jewar with the allocation of Rs 700 crore, and Rs 300 crore for better multi-modal Rapid Rail connectivity.|

“For acquisition of land for the third phase expansion of the airport in Jewar, a provision of Rs 700 crore has been made in the budget. Also, a provision of Rs 300 crore has been made in the budget for the rapid rail, which would be connecting the airport in Jewar to Ghaziabad,” YEIDA’s CEO Arun Vir Singh told reporters.

Notably, YEIDA, which is a 12.5 percent stakeholder in the upcoming Noida Airport, has planned connectivity between the airport and Delhi through Ghaziabad via the RRTS rail system. 

Noida Airport expansion

In its 2024-25 Budget, the Uttar Pradesh government allocated Rs 1,150 crore for the upcoming Noida International Airport to bolster the construction and land acquisition process.

The development for phase one of the Airport is underway, which is scheduled to open for commercial operations by the end of 2024. 

Under phase one, a total of 230 acres will be developed, which will include 75 acres (33%) of commercial and 155 acres (67 percent) of industrial area.

The airport is being built by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, which is a fully-owned subsidiary of Swiss firm Zurich Airport International AG.

Land acquisition gets major chunk

Uttar Pradesh government’s YEIDA manages land along the 165-km-long Yamuna Expressway from Greater Noida to Agra, also announced a hike of 5.41 percent in the cost of land under its area.

Approx 80 percent of the total budget would be utilised on land acquisition as YEIDA has planned manufacturing clusters for electric vehicles (EVs), Data Parks, and semiconductors among other specialised companies, YEIDA officials informed .

YEIDA’s CEO Arun Vir Singh mentioned the land-owning organisation has prepared an ambitious plan for the development of new sectors and new allotments, including innovative sectors like semiconductors and Data Park. 

“We are acquiring land for eight new sectors, creating a new land bank. For this, the budget this year is being increased from Rs 5,630 crore to Rs 9,992 crore, which is almost double as compared to last year. Of the total budget, over Rs 6,000 crore would be spent on land acquisition, Rs 2,000 crore in development works,” Singh said.

To increase the land bank, the YEIDA had prepared a Rs 11,750 crore plan to acquire land in sectors 10, 7, 5, 6, 8, 9, 4A, 28, 29, 32 etc. Of this, the authority requested the government to give 50% of the amount — Rs 5,875 — as an interest-free loan. In this regard, the UP government provided an interest-free loan of Rs 3,279 crore.