On March 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Noida International Airport (NIA) in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh. Built at a cost of around Rs 11,200 crore, the airport will transform the size and character of UP’s economy. When fully developed, it will be able to handle 11.6 crore passengers, 7.3 lakh flights and 28 lakh metric tonnes of cargo each year, making it one of India’s largest airports and air-logistics hubs.

The airport will be an important piece in UP’s infrastructural and economic strategy puzzle, positively impacting the state’s economy in four ways: Increasing GSDP, creating a large number of quality jobs, generating new economic opportunities, and deepening the technology and electronics manufacturing sectors in western UP. Let us look at each of these in some detail.

India’s aviation market is estimated at Rs 1.6 lakh crore, with six Tier-1 cities accounting for 68 per cent of this market. Amongst the states, Delhi leads the pack with a 20 per cent market share. In contrast, UP’s share is barely 4 per cent. NIA will rapidly alter that reality as its annual air-passenger traffic will exceed 3 crore by 2034, more than double the current figure for the entire state of UP. Thus, the........

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