Switzerland's Zürich Airport International AG has won the contract to develop and operate the proposed international airport at Jewar, Uttar Pradesh. Located on the outskirts of Delhi, the airport has sparked hopes for the long-delayed project that will act as the second airport for the national capital. Zürich Airport outbid Adani Enterprise Ltd, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), and Anchorage Infrastructure Investment Holdings Ltd by offering the highest revenue share per person, according to an official from Noida International Airport Ltd (NIAL), which had selected Zürich International AG as the concessionaire for developing the Jewar airport, Gautam Budh Nagar, billed to be the biggest airport in India upon completion. The Swiss firm offered INR 400.97 per person, compared with Adani’s INR 360, DIAL’s INR 351 and Anchorage Infrastructure Investment Holdings’ INR 205. 

Zürich Airport has developed Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport in partnership with other companies. However, it sold its residual 5% stake in that project to India-born Canadian investor Prem Watsa's FairFax Holdings in 2016, which now owns a majority in the third largest Indian airport. This marked Zürich Airport’s exit from the Indian airport market. Jewar will be the firm's re-entry into the country's airport infrastructure segment. The first phase of the project is due to be operational by 2023 with a capacity to handle 12 million passengers per year. Zürich Airport informed that it will design, develop and operate the new greenfield airport in Jewar under a 40-year concession and will spend around INR 46.7 billion in the first phase of the development. 

“We are happy to work in Uttar Pradesh as this region has a huge potential. This region has infrastructure, traffic and big catchment area,” said Daniel Bircher CEO of Zürich Airport. "Under a 40- year concession, Flughafen Zürich AG will build and manage the new greenfield airport in Jewar. The capital investments associated with the first phase is expected to amount to roughly CHF 650 million during the construction period of approximately four years in the first phase," said a statement from Flughafen Zürich AG, which currently holds 100% of the project. The second phase is expected to be completed by 2031, increasing capacity to 30 million passengers per year, while the third and fourth phases are likely to be finished by 2036 and 2040, respectively. 

Project history:

In 2001, then Chief Minister Rajnath Singh had proposed to build a greenfield Taj international airport and aviation hub (TIAH) in Jewar with an aim to boost local economy and create jobs by setting up industries near the civil aviation hub. However, the project did not see any development till 2009. In 2010, then UP Chief Minister Mayawati took up the project and got site clearances and approvals from the Ministry of Defence. But nothing happened at the site and the project continued to remain only on paper. In 2012, the UPA-led government at the Central Government said that an airport cannot come up within 150 km of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. In 2013, then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav shifted the project to Agra, 200 km from Delhi’s IGI Airport. In 2014, Dr Mahesh Sharma, BJP leader and Gautam Budh Nagar district MP, promised to revive the project in Jewar. In 2015, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav expressed his willingness to develop the project and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) reserved 5,000 acres for it. A global tender was floated to hire a developer for the proposed airport on 30 May 2019 by the NIAL. The Jewar Airport – also called the Noida International Greenfield Airport - will be spread over 5,000 hectares when fully built at an estimated to cost INR 295.6 billion, Shailendra Bhatia, the project's nodal officer said.

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