As investment rises, Jewar airport helps Yamuna authority reduce debt
Noida:
The Noida International Greenfield airport project, where work on ground is expected to begin by April-end, has come as a bailout for the debt-ridden Yamuna Expressway industrial development authority.
The authority had a debt of Rs4,500 crore, which has now reduced to only Rs2,200 crore, thanks to airport project at Jewar along the Yamuna Expressway.
“The Yamuna authority was struggling with mounting debt before work on airport boosted investors’ sentiment. Since its inception, the authority had never made any profit. For the first time, it earned a profit of Rs17 crore in 2018-19, when work on airport project picked up pace. And due to a rise in investment due to the airport, we made Rs200 crore profit in 2019-2020. Now we are recovering from the financial crisis,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer of the Yamuna Expressway industrial development authority and Noida International Airport Limited, which is developing the airport.
The Uttar Pradesh government on April 24, 2001, had established YEIDA for developing areas between Greater Noida and Agra. The objective was to set up industries to generate employment and develop urban areas in the region. Around 2 lakh hectares from 1,187 villages of six districts — Gautam Budh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, Mathura and Agra — were notified under YEIDA.
YEIDA has so far acquired around 14,000 hectares of agricultural land along the 165km Yamuna Expressway that connects Greater Noida with Agra. However, it failed to attract much investment and industries before work on the airport picked up pace.
“The authority’s receivables in 2018-19 were Rs1,213 crore from selling land. And in the financial year 2019-2020, the receivables increased to Rs1422 crore because we managed to sell more land due to the airport, boosting the investors’ sentiment,” said Singh.
The YEIDA owes Rs1,100 crore out of total Rs2,200 crore debt to Noida authority.
“We owe Rs1,100 crore to Noida authority and remaining Rs1,100 crore to various banks. We aim to repay this loan in 2020-21 as we hope we will sell more land and receive more revenue in the time to come. Without the airport project, it was not possible for us to recover from this financial crisis,” Singh said.
