Akhil Vaani | Jewar: From A Wheat Field In UP To One Of Asia's Most Ambitious Airport Projects

Jewar is no ordinary infrastructure addition. It is India's largest greenfield airport project, 100 per cent funded by Foreign Direct Investment.

On 28 March 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Noida International Airport — popularly known as Jewar Airport — located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, approximately 72 kilometres from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. It was a moment that had been two and a half decades in the making: first proposed in 2001, formally approved in 2015, and finally opened after multiple construction delays and missed deadlines.

With this, the Jewar airport, which arrived two decades of dreams, delays, and determination, has finally opened its doors — poised to become one of Asia’s largest aviation hubs.

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Largest Greenfield Project

Jewar is no ordinary infrastructure addition. It is India’s largest greenfield airport project, 100 per cent funded by Foreign Direct Investment, operated under a 40-year public-private partnership by Yamaha International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL) — a wholly owned subsidiary of Switzerland’s Zurich Airport International AG. Built by Tata Projects Limited at a Phase 1 cost of Rs.11,200 crore ($1.2 billion), Jewar is designed to eventually become one of the largest aviation hubs in Asia, serving up to 70 million passengers annually by 2040 and potentially 120–150 million by 2050.

Two Decades from Dream to Runway

The idea of a greenfield airport near Jewar was first floated in 2001 by then–Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Rajnath Singh as a “Taj International Aviation Hub." For over a decade, the project drifted through political changes, location disputes, and environmental challenges before the Union Government formally approved it in June 2015. The Ministry of Civil Aviation gave in-principle approval in May 2018.

The decisive turn came in November 2019 when Zurich Airport International AG won the competitive bid at ₹400.97 per passenger, outcompeting the Adani Group, DIAL, and Anchorage Infra. The 40-year concession agreement was signed on 7 October 2020. Financial closure with the State Bank of India was achieved in June 2021, and PM Modi laid the foundation stone on 25 November 2021. Tata Projects was awarded the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract in June 2022, with physical construction beginning shortly thereafter.

Here is the project in brief:

The airport has been developed as the second International Airport for the Delhi-NCR region, complementing Indira Gandhi International Airport. Together the two airports will function as an integrated aviation system, easing congestion, expanding passenger capacity and positioning Delhi NCR among leading global aviation hub.

Commercial flight operations at the airport are expected to begin from mid-April 2026, with the airport set to initially offer 25 domestic routes and 3 international routes. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted the airport its aerodrome licence in March 2026 with approval for all-weather operations — a critical feature given the dense winter fog that paralyses Delhi-NCR’s aviation each year .

What Has Been Built So Far

Phase 1 spans 1,334 hectares (3,300 acres) of land, largely acquired from former wheat-farming communities at a compensation of up to ₹4,300 per square metre. The terminal building covers 100,000 sq. m, designed by a consortium of globally renowned architects — Haptic, Nordic, Grimshaw, and STUP — drawing inspiration from Indian heritage motifs including ghats and havelis. The terminal features 10 aerobridges, an automated baggage handling system (ATRS), self-check-in kiosks, biometric DigiYatra boarding, and paperless travel infrastructure.

The runway is 3,900 metres long with a 45-metre width, capable of handling wide-body aircraft including the Boeing 777-300ER. An Instrument Landing System (ILS) installed at both ends of the runway enables all-weather, CAT III operations — critical given Delhi-NCR’s dense winter fog. The cargo hub is designed to manage over 2.5 lakh metric tonnes annually, expandable to 18 lakh MT. Uniquely, the airport also houses India’s first in-house MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facility at an airport.

Here is the snapshot of the infrastructure built in Phase 1

The airport shall be developed in four phases over the next quarter century, each adding a terminal and at least one runway. The full build-out will cover 7,200 acres — eight times the size of Central Park, New York — making Jewar the largest airport in India by capacity built at an approximate cost of Rs. 30000 crores. Here is the phase wise investment lay out planned.

From 12 to 70 million Passengers

As the table below shows, the Rs. 30000 crore investment will yield into construction of India’s biggest ever airport with 4 terminals, 6 runways and a capacity to manage 70+ million passengers daily.

A Multi-Modal Transport Hub

One of Jewar’s defining features is its ambition to be India’s most comprehensively connected airport. It sits on the Yamuna Expressway, providing immediate road access to Noida, Greater Noida, and Agra. A Ground Transportation Centre (GTC) — currently under development — will serve 50,000 vehicles daily, integrating buses, cars, metro, and Namo Bharat rail under one roof.

The Aerotropolis Effect

The Jewar airport is slated to have the significant economic throw forward benefits. The economic impact of the airport has already begun reshaping the Yamuna Expressway corridor. Property prices have surged: plots up 536% and apartments up 158% between 2020 and 2025. The airport is expected to generate over 1 lakh direct and indirect jobs. Air India SATS (AISATS) alone has committed ₹4,458 crore towards cargo and catering infrastructure. Here are some of the expected economic benefits accruing from the project.

The Jewar airport assumes greater salience for Uttar Pradesh the most populous state and once dubbed as one of the Bimaru states of the country. The state now boasts of being the state with the highest number of operational and under construction airports in the country (21). The state now also has maximum international airports in the country with the following five-

Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (Lucknow)

Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (Varanasi)

Kushinagar International Airport (Kushinagar)

Maharishi Valmiki International Airport ( Ayodhya)

Noida International Airport (Jewar)

A Gateway in the Making

Jewar Airport is, at its most fundamental level, a bet on India’s aviation future. Indian domestic air travellers have more than doubled since 2014 to over 160 million in 2025. Delhi-NCR, as the country’s economic heartland Delhi NCR, has long been served by a single overloaded Indira Gandhi International airport. Jewar changes that equation permanently.

With the Jewar airport now up the real test lies in execution: whether commercial flights beginning in April 2026 will attract sufficient airline interest, whether metro and rapid rail links will be delivered on time, and whether the aerotropolis vision will translate into real jobs and industrial activity. If it succeeds, Jewar will be one of India’s most consequential infrastructure decisions of the 21st century. For now, the runway is ready, the planes are coming, and a wheat field in Uttar Pradesh has become a gateway to the world.

Pathway To Viksit Bharat

While inaugurating the Noida International Airport, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “This airport is not just an infrastructure project — it is a new chapter of the Viksit Bharat–Viksit UP campaign. It will act as a logistics gateway for North India, giving new momentum to investment, trade and exports."

To cap it all, Jewar Airport is more than a runway and more than an airport. It is Viksit Bharat made visible — demonstrating that India can attract global capital, build at scale, and deliver infrastructure that reaches the farmer in Malihabad and the entrepreneur in Aligarh, not just the frequent flyer in Delhi.

(The author is a multidisciplinary thought leader with Action Bias, India-based international impact consultant, and keen watcher of changing national and international scenarios. He works as president, advisory services of consulting company BARSYL. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views)

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