HDFC Bank Rs 500 Crore Funding To Jewar Airport Project

HDFC Bank has entered into an agreement to provide Rs 500 crore funding to the upcoming Jewar airport in Greater Noida. The funds will be utilized for infrastructure development and land acquisition for the proposed airport that will be Asia’s largest. The funding will be provided at interest cost of Marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) plus 1%. With this the Yamuna Expressway Authority that is developing the 5,000-acre airport in Gautam Budh Nagar district of western Uttar Pradesh has secured financial assistance worth over Rs 4,500 crore including a funding from Housing & Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO). The tenure of HDFC’s loan is five years, and the funding amount can be increased later. The project is estimated to cost over Rs 29,500 crore and the authority is looking to raise additional funds through issuance of infrastructure bonds soon. The airport is billed to be the biggest in India with six runways upon completion. The first phase of the project will be spread over an area of 1,334 hectare and is expected to cost over Rs 4,500 crore. The construction work at the project is expected to start in 2021, while commencement of operations is scheduled for beginning of 2024.