Can Jewar Airport Reinvigorate Noida

‘JewarInternational Airport’ for long remained a dream project for the UP Government which it nurtured for 16 years. With this dream project now inching closer to reality,ShubhraSainitakes a look at what it means for the realty sector of the region. Jewar International Airport is an epitome example of how a project faces the brunt of regime changes, first proposed in 2001 by the then CM of UP, Rajnath Singh, Greenfield Taj International and aviation Hub at Jewar village near Greater Noida. At one point of time the project was about to be shelved by the state government but meanwhile the regime change took place and the project was again shifted back to Jewar. The civil aviation ministry cleared the proposal for the new airport to be set up on 2,200 acres of land in June 2015 and The Union Ministry of Defence cleared the project in June 2016, lastly The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Environment Ministry recently gave the green signal to the project.Currently, the Yogi Adityanathgovernment is trying to strike consent with at least 70% of land owners to facilitate signing of the contract to build the airport and its construction. Noida and especially Greater Noida (because of its close vicinity with the airport) are great investment zones today because in 4-5 years by the time the airport will hit its first phase completion the property prices here will shoot up. According to latest reports, YEIDA wants to acquire the by paying twice the circle rate to nearly 3000 land-owners as the other route of obtaining land through direct negotiation does not seem to be possible. However, the villagers in eight villages of the area are demanding four times the circle rate as per theLand Acquisition Act provision for “rural areas. Can Jewar Airport do it for Noida what Indira Gandhi International Airport did for Gurgaon?Jewar International Airport, also called as ‘The Noida International Airport’ will be implemented by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) on behalf of the Uttar Pradesh State Governmenton Public Private Partnership model. The airport will be connected with the Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport though a direct Metro link with additional Metro connectivity via Greater Noida Metro Line. UP state government is also considering the possibility of linking the airport with Sarai Kale Khan (a major bus transit station in the national capital) through a dedicated Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS). Will it up the ante for real estate in the Noida and Greater Noida? Will it bring more MNCs and international corporate houses to Noida? Can it ever take away the glory from Gurgaon or at least create a balance in property rates disparity between Gurgaon and Noida? The questions are too many but the time will only chart the future for this aspirational realty corridor. For now real estate developers are bullish over this strategic development. The airport construction will give major fillip to the job market in the area and create demand for residential, commercial, retail, hospitality and all the other realty asset classes. PrasoonChauhan,CEO, Homekraft (part of ATS Group), said, “After the proposal of Jewar Airport Real estate sector is looking positive with consumers/homebuyers coming back into the market. The project is expected to change the property market dynamics and job opportunities in Noida and the adjoining areas like Greater Noida, Delhi and Gurgaon. Since it will take a lot of time to build the airport, this region is now a good investment option.”