The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) on behalf of the Uttar Pradesh State Government in India has shortlisted four companies based on technical and financial criteria to participate in bids for Jewar International Airport project.

The four shortlisted companies are Adani Enterprises, Delhi Airport International Limited, Zurich Airport International AG, Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Limited.

The project involves the development of a greenfield international airport north of Jewar village, located 80 km from New Delhi in Uttar Pradesh state. The new airport would be a second facility after Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport in the National Capital Region. The airport will be developed on an area of 5100 hectares, out of which 240 hectares belong to the state government and rest is with private owners. At the end of October the state government got the mandatory possession of 80% of the total land required.

The airport will be developed in stages and when completed will feature 6 runways. This will make it the largest airport in India and it will join the list of largest airports in the world. Deli´s Indira Gandhi International Airport in comparison features 3 runways.

The first phase of the project will see two runways built on 1,334 hectares of land and cost INR 45.88 billion (USD 580 million) and it is expected to be completed by 2023.

Total of 20 companies submitted qualifications for the project, which includes GMR Group; Airport Authority of India (AAI); Reliance; Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL); Mumbai Internation Airport Limited (MIAL); ADP Hong Kong; Global Infrastructure; L&T; and Sterlite Power.

The global tender for the airport developer was launched on May 30 and the deadline was on October 30 and the technical bids were opened on November 6. The financial bids will be open on November 29. The authority is expecting to choose a developer in January 2020 and to start operation works by 2022-23. The construction of the airport is expected to take three to four years.