New Delhi: Few months ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Elections 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Noida International Airport in Jewar on Thursday afternoon. The Noida Airport is expected to be operational by September 2024.
PM Modi was accompanied by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The Prime Minister addressed thousands of people who participated in the event. Here are some key points of PM Modi's speech:
- PM Modi said that the new India of the 21st century today is building one of the best modern infrastructures. Better roads, better rail network, better airports are not just infrastructure projects but they transform the entire region, transforming people's lives completely.
- Focusing on the National Gatishakti Masterplan, PM Modi said that Noida International Airport will serve as the logistic gateway of northern India and will make the entire region a powerful reflection of the centre's Gatishakti Mission.
- PM Modi said that the construction of Asia's largest airport construction will build thousands of employment opportunities. PM Modi said, "The airport also requires thousands of people to run smoothly. This airport will also give new employment to thousands of people of western UP."
- Training guns on the opposition, PM Modi said, "After 7 decades of independence, for the first time, Uttar Pradesh has started getting what it has always deserved. With the efforts of the double engine government, today Uttar Pradesh is turning into the most connected region of the country."
- Targetting the previous government, the Prime Minister said that the previous governments deprived the state of its facilities and kept the people in darkness, they showed false dreams to people but now the same Uttar Pradesh is not only showing its potential nationally but also internationally.
- Mentioning that the Jewar Airport is a dream come true for the BJP government, PM Modi said, "this Jewar airport is also an example of how the earlier governments in UP and at the centre ignored the development of western Uttar Pradesh. The BJP government of UP had dreamed of this project 2 decades ago."
- PM further said that this airport was entangled in the tussle of the earlier governments in Delhi and UP for many years. The previous UP government had even written a letter to the then central government and told that the project of this airport should be closed.
- Giving a reply to the opposition who raised questions on the timing of the foundation stone laying ceremony of Noida Airport which is months ahead of UP elections, PM Modi said, "infrastructure is not part of politics for us but part of national policy. We are making sure that the projects do not get stuck. We are trying to ensure that the infrastructure work is completed within the stipulated time."
- PM Modi said that some political parties in our country have always put their self-interest first. These parties only focus on the development of their family but BJP follows the spirit of the nation first. Sabka Saath - Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas - Sabka Efforts is the mantra for them.
- Earlier, Adityanath had said that in the first phase, an investment of over Rs 10,000 crore is expected in this area initially. The whole airport will eventually attract investment worth around Rs 34,000 crore to Rs 35,000 crore and more than one lakh people will get jobs here.
Along with this, there will be several opportunities like MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) for aircraft at the airport, he said.
This airport's construction will be completed and it will go functional in 2024, becoming the fifth international airport of Uttar Pradesh. We already have international airports in Lucknow and Varanasi, the chief minister said.
Prime Minister Modi had recently inaugurated an international airport at Kushinagar while we have already been working on another international airport in Ayodhya, he said.
Adityanath said the Noida International greenfield airport will be the first airport in India which will be free of any kind of pollution and it will not only be India's but Asia's biggest airport.