The CEO of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), an entity of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, has announced that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has submitted a concessionaire agreement for the planned Jewar Airport project.

The project involves the development of a greenfield international airport north of Jewar village, Gautam Budh Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh, located in the north of India. PwC were hired in December 2017 to prepare a techno-economic feasibility report for the project, conduct environmental and social impact assessments and manage the bidding process on behalf of YEIDA.

The feasibility report was submitted in April, and the Uttar Pradesh government approved the social impact assessment (SIA) last month. The concessionaire agreement contains the regulatory mechanism for establishing a concession for the project between the successful bidder and the state government. It must now be approved by YEIDA and the government's civil aviation department.

Following this, YEIDA will launch an international bidding process. PwC projects that the airport will handle six million passengers by 2022-23, when the first phase of the project is slated to be ready, and ten million passengers a year by 2029-30. The estimated budget is INR150-200 billion (US$2.0-2.7 billion).

Around 5,000 hectares of land have been identified for the airport. The first phase of land acquisitions, which concern 1,257 hectares for construction of terminal buildings and runways, has commenced.