Hunt on for site to host foundation stone laying ceremony of Noida airport

GB Nagar police commissioner Alok Singh, Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) and Yeida chief executive officer (CEO) Arun Vir Singh, and Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh, who is also part of the search team, inspected a plot in Ranhera on Monday.

The Gautam Budh Nagar police and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) are on the hunt for a site to host the foundation stone laying ceremony of the upcoming international airport at Jewar, which is likely to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Swiss company Zurich Airport International AG has been selected as the concessionaire for developing the international airport at Jewar. (HT File Photo)

The date of the event is yet to be finalised, officials said.

GB Nagar police commissioner Alok Singh, Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) and Yeida chief executive officer (CEO) Arun Vir Singh, and Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh, who is also part of the search team, inspected a plot in Ranhera on Monday.

“Nothing is final yet — neither the land nor the date. We have visited Ranhera and Sector 28. We may visit other sites too later. We will follow the Uttar Pradesh government’s instructions and do the needful. We cannot comment further on this,” said Yeida CEO Singh.

“If everything goes according to the plan, bhoomi pujan and inauguration ceremonies for the mega project will take place in August-end,” said MLA Dhirendra Singh.

According to Singh, he has suggested Ranhera for the foundation stone laying ceremony of the airport as that was the first village where land acquisition for the airport project had started.

Yeida has shortlisted 16 agencies for management of the mega airport event, the officials said.

Swiss company Zurich Airport International AG has been selected as the concessionaire for developing the international airport at Jewar. There will be two runways in phase 1 and the airport is expected to become operational by 2023-24. In total, the airport is projected to have five runways when it is developed to its full capacity over about 5,000 hectares of land.