Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia exuded confidence on the potential of the new Noida International Airport.
Modi laid the foundation for the airport, located at Jewar, on Thursday. After the event, Modi declared the new airport would be the “logistics gateway of northern India”.
Modi noted the Noida Airport would benefit “crores of people of Delhi-NCR and western Uttar Pradesh”. He also declared it would give employment opportunities to thousands in western Uttar Pradesh.
“Noida International Airport will directly connect a major centre of export with international markets. It will enable farmers of this region to export perishable goods like vegetables, fruits and fish. It will help MSMEs of western UP to reach foreign markets,” Modi said.
Taking aim at opposition parties, Modi said, “After 7 decades, UP is getting what it always deserved; with efforts of double-engine government, UP is turning into the country's most connected region. UP, which was kept in darkness by previous governments, is now leaving its mark not only nationally but internationally too. Jewar airport is also an example of how earlier governments in UP and at Centre ignored development of western Uttar Pradesh.”
Modi claimed the BJP had wanted an international airport in Noida two decades ago, but faced opposition. “20 years back, BJP government saw the dream of constructing an international airport here. However, it got stuck due to tussle of previous governments sitting at Lucknow and Delhi. Even the previous state government wrote a letter to stop the project. But now we're witnessing its 'bhumi pujan',” Modi said.
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Highlighting his government's commitment to infrastructure projects, Modi said, “Infrastructure is not politics for us but part of national policy; we're ensuring projects don't get stuck and are completed in time.”
Speaking before Modi, Scindia said it was the prime minister's direction that Asia's biggest airport has to be built in Uttar Pradesh. “Where there is a will, there is a way... It was an ambitious resolution of the prime minister, which has come true today,” Scindia said.
“By the last phase of development, the Noida International Airport will even surpass Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport and become India's leading airport,” Scindia declared.
(With PTI inputs)
