Shareholder agreement signed for Noida airport

GREATER NOIDA: Zurich Airport International, the Swiss company selected for developing the international airport at Jewar, on Saturday signed a shareholder agreement with the Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), officials said

GREATER NOIDA: Zurich Airport International, the Swiss company selected for developing the international airport at Jewar, on Saturday signed a shareholder agreement with the Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), officials said.

HT Image

Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer of NIAL, and Christoph Schnellmann, CEO of the Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), signed the agreement in Lucknow in the presence of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and senior officials of the state government. YIAPL, a 100% subsidiary of Zurich Airport International, has been formed to develop the about ₹30,000 crore airport project.

According to the agreement, NIAL, the UP government’s nodal agency for the project, will hold one golden share in YIAPL and the right to nominate two directors to the company’s board.

“The work on the project is likely to start very soon at the ground as the shareholder agreement has been signed. Now, the UP government will have a golden share in YIAPL. It means that CEO of NIAL and UP civil aviation director have become two directors on the YIAPL board and will have a say in all key policy decisions. Two more directors will be from Zurich,” said Singh.

The airport is scheduled to become operational by 2024.

“We have rehabilitated almost all farmer families, making way for the work to begin soon. We have started the process of physical transfer of 1,334 hectares of land to YIAPL,” said the NIAL chief.

Replying to a query, Schnellmann, CEO of YIAPL, said, “Geotechnical and topographical studies have been underway for the past several months. We expect construction activities to commence at the site in the next few months. The UP government is also in the process of concluding the rehabilitation and resettlement activities.”

The officials also said that the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are likely to give their final nod to the Jewar airport’s master plan this month. The MoCA and AAI had, in February 2021, had suggested some technical changes in the master plan.

“As per the suggestions, distance between two runways, length of a runway, and the space required for airplane parking, among others, have been revised in line with civil aviation rules. We are likely to receive the final nod to the master plan that will be vetted and approved by the Yamuna Expressway authority and NIAL this month only,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, Daniel Bircher, CEO of Zurich Airport International, said, “We are pleased to sign the shareholder agreement, which strengthens the partnership between Zurich Airport International and NIAL. The Noida International Airport will be an engine of economic growth for India and Uttar Pradesh, stimulating residential and industrial activities in the catchment area as well as the development of cargo and logistics cluster in the NCR region.”