The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Monday approved Zurich Airport International as developer for Jewar airport and the construction of what is being billed the biggest airport in the country is expected to begin in February.
The formal nod from Uttar Pradesh government comes after a bidding process in which Zurich Airport beat Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), Adani Enterprises and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Limited on November 29.
The winning bid was then put up before the project monitoring and implementation committee (PMIC) of the state government, before being forwarded to the Cabinet.
"The Cabinet has approved Zurich Airport International as developer for Jewar airport," UP's Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Information) Awanish Awasthi confirmed after the meeting here.
Four bids had come for the airport. On the basis of weighted averages, Zurich Airport International was chosen, UP minister Siddharth Nath Singh said.
The Swiss firm offered a premium of Rs 400.97 per passenger to the government, the highest among the bidders.
"We are of the view that the construction work for Jewar airport will begin in February next year," the minister added. He said the Niti Aayog has praised this project.
Later, UP Civil Aviation minister Nand Gopal Gupta told PTI, "This day has proved to be a landmark in the history of UP's development.
Jewar airport is necessary for UP and also for the entire country. There was no delay in the bidding process. It has set an example for the entire country, he added.
The airport in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district will be the third in the National Capital Region after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport and Ghaziabad's Hindon.
The Jewar Airport or the Noida International Greenfield Airport will be spread over 5,000 hectares when fully built at an estimated to cost Rs 29,560 crore, officials had said earlier.
A global tender was floated to hire a developer for the proposed airport on May 30 by the NIAL, an agency floated by the Uttar Pradesh government to manage the mega project.
The airport is expected to have six to eight runways, the maximum at an airport in India, when fully built, according to officials.
The first phase of the airport would be spread over 1,334 hectares and completed by 2023, they had said.
Zurich Airport AG is currently involved in eight airports in Latin America.
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