Aviation Ministry gives nod to second NCR airport

The airport in Jewar was proposed by the erstwhile Mayawati-led in UP and UPA govt had formed a group of ministers to decide on the issue.

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Mahesh Sharma (L) has several times expressed the need for having a second airport in the National Capital Region (NCR). (Source: PTI)

The ministry of Civil Aviation on Thursday approved a proposal for setting up a second airport in the National Capital Region.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said the GMR Group, which operates the Indira Gandhi International Airport Ltd here, would be preferred for developing the proposed airport. The proposal would soon be sent to the Cabinet for approval. Once the project gets the required approvals, the civil aviation ministry will offer the contract for building and running the proposed Jewar airport in Greater Noida to the GMR Group. The GMR Group has the right of first refusal (RoFR) for any airport that is built within a 150-km radius of the existing airport in Delhi.

Under RoFR norms, the existing airport operator will be asked to match the lowest bid arrived at after the bidding process for the proposed Jewar airport. According to the rules, GMR’s bid will be accepted only if it is equal to or less than 10 per cent of the bid offered by the lowest bidder.

“We have already acquired over 2,200 acres for the proposed airport and much more can be acquired since land availability is not an issue in that area. Plus, the road infrastructure till the site for the proposed Jewar airport is also adequate”, added Sharma.

The government would be required to amend certain regulations to enable development of the new project as existing rules do not allow a second airport within a 150 kilometre radius of an existing one, unless the latter is functioning beyond its operational capacity.

According to norms in the ‘policy on airport infrastructure of India’, the government will approve the establishment of greenfield airports in places where an existing one is unable to meet the projected requirements of traffic or in case a “new focal point of traffic emerges with sufficient viability”. This could either be as a replacement for an existing airport, or for simultaneous operations.

The current policy states, “No greenfield airport will normally be allowed within an aerial distance of 150 km of an existing airport. Where it is allowed as a second airport in the same city or close vicinity, the parameters for distribution of traffic between the two airports will be clearly spelt out.”

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The airport in Jewar was proposed by the erstwhile Mayawati-led in Uttar Pradesh and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had formed a group of ministers (GoM) to decide on the issue.

Sharma has several times expressed the need for having a second airport in the National Capital Region (NCR) especially due to rising number of air travellers. However, industry insiders say there is ample room for growth as well as additional capacity expansion at IGI itself. The airport currently has the capacity to handle 62 million passengers per annum. A fourth terminal and runway is planned, and this can take traffic-handling capacity to 100 million per annum.