PM Modi to lay foundation stone of Noida International Airport in UP's Jewar today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday lay the foundation stone of the Noida International Airport (NIA) in Uttar Pradesh's Jewar.  It will be the second international airport to come up in the Delhi-NCR region, after the capital's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, and, according to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), will help decongest the country's busiest airport.

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“Tomorrow, 25th November is a major day for India's and Uttar Pradesh's stride in infra creation. At 1 PM, the foundation stone of the Noida International Airport will be laid. This project will significantly boost commerce, connectivity and tourism," PM Modi tweeted on Wednesday.

The first phase of the project will be undertaken at a cost of around ₹10,500 crore, and the work on it is scheduled to be completed by 2024. The first phase, once fully executed, will be spread across more than 1300 hectares of land. It will have the capacity to serve around 1.2 crore passengers a year.

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Besides Delhi, the airport will benefit other cities such as Noida, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Agra, Faridabad etc. as well.

The Noida International Airport will be among five international airports in Uttar Pradesh, making UP the only state to have that many international airports, according to the state government. The state previously had two international airports, one each in capital Lucknow and Varanasi. However, last month, PM Modi inaugurated the Kushinagar International Airport, and another one will come up in the temple town of Ayodhya in 2022.