Civil Aviation Ministry gives nod to second airport in Delhi-NCR

The Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday cleared a proposal for setting up a second international airport in Delhi-NCR, likely to be built at Jewar in Greater Noida.

The proposal would soon be sent to the Cabinet for its approval, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma was quoted by PTI as saying. GMR Group, which operates the Indira Gandhi International Airport Ltd, would be preferred for developing the proposed airport, he added.

Reports in the media quoting sources, however, say the approval of the Uttar Pradesh for an airport in Jewar is still awaited. The airport in Jewar was proposed by the erstwhile Mayawati-led Government and the UPA Government had formed a group of ministers to decide on the issue. The present Samajwadi Party Government has not given its go-ahead for the project as yet.

For the new project, the Government would be required to amend certain regulations as existing rules do not allow a second airport within a 150-km radius of an existing one, unless the latter is functioning beyond its operational capacity.