The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government in India is set to go ahead with the planned construction of an international airport at the Gautam Buddh Nagar district in Jewar after farmers agreed to the acquisition of their land required for the proposed airport.

The in-principal approval was granted in March last year and now nearly 2,335 farmers have given their land for the project.

The acquisition is sufficient to fulfil about 75% of the land requirement for the first phase of the project, which requires a total of 1,334ha of land.

Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh was quoted by financialexpress.com as saying: “We have finally accomplished the Herculean task of getting consent for the magical figure of 70% land required for the project.

“We have finally accomplished the Herculean task of getting consent for the magical figure of 70% land required.”

“Confirmation has come from 2,335 farmers for 912ha, which is almost 75% of the total land required for the first phase. We are now sure that Uttar Pradesh will not be left behind in the development race.”

Singh further added that the proposed airport will boost economic activity in the region.

The proposal for this airport was first submitted in 2002. However, no progress was made during the last 15 years.

The total land required for the Jewar airport project is approximately 3,000ha to 5000ha. The airport will be built in four phases and entail an investment of Rs157.54bn ($2.17bn).

The greenfield airport is likely to become operational by 2022-23. Its construction depends on a number of factors such as availability of land, concessionaire, financial closures, mandatory clearances, among others.