Uttar Pradesh's joint venture company Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) signed a licence memorandum with Yamuna International Airport (YIAPL), on Saturday, signalling the formal handover of land for Jewar airport from NIAL to the concessionaire, reports Financial Express.

It should be noted that YIAPL is a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Zurich Airport International. It has been incorporated to develop the Noida International Airport in Jewar.

A press statement released by the state government informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the airport later this month.

Christoph Schnellmann, Chief Executive Officer of YIAPL was quoted in the report as saying that the financial closure of the project is round the corner and he expects it to be completed within the next two weeks.

“We are pleased to confirm that over 1,300 hectares of land of the total 1,334 hectares have been handed over to us today for the development of Noida International Airport. So, we have received right of way for about 90% today and have signed a site inventory memorandum, which gives us the right of way to the available part of the site to commence construction activities. Our timeline to deliver the airport is three years after the complete land is made available. So, we are planning to complete work on phase-I of the airport development by end of 2024 with an investment of Rs 5,700 crore.”

“While 65% of the investment, which works out to be Rs 372 crore would be funded through debt, 35%, that is Rs 2,000 crore would be through equity. For the debt part, we are in the final stages of securing the loan through SBI, while the rest would be provided by Zurich Airport, the parent company,” Schnellmann said.

When the first phase becomes operational, the Jewar International Airport will handle around 12 million passengers every year. The project will be spread over an area of 5,000 hectares and may have six to eight runways.