The Chief Minister flagged off electric buses and hydrogen buses in Noida and highlighted improvements in the state’s air connectivity. He said Prayagraj Airport was completed within 11 months and referred to the country’s largest airport at Jewar. He added that Ayodhya, long without air services, now has an airport dedicated to Maharishi Valmiki. He noted that Uttar Pradesh now has five international airports including Lucknow, Ayodhya, Kashi, Kushinagar and Noida, and that Noida Airport was poised to develop as a passenger, cargo and MRO hub. He said metro services were operating in seven cities, out of 20 across the country, and that more than 700 electric buses were running in 17 municipal corporations with the service now being extended to Noida. He recalled that electric buses had previously been sourced from outside the state but that Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland of the Hinduja Group had each set up two electric bus plants in Lucknow to enable local production. He said NTPC had provided three hydrogen buses to the Yamuna Authority which were being introduced, and that the hydrogen would be produced from treated sewer water rather than from groundwater or surface water. He said the hydrogen buses would operate near Jewar Airport and would contribute to reducing air pollution, thereby protecting children, senior citizens and patients. He described green hydrogen mobility as an innovative concept and said the buses would play a major role in local clean mobility initiatives. He also emphasised that unemployed youth would be given priority in the operation of rural transport services. He outlined the Uttar Pradesh Clean Air Management Project (UP CAMP) with World Bank assistance of Rs 27.41 billion (Rs 27.41 bn) to support net-zero targets and recalled that nine years earlier urban areas used halogen streetlights that consumed large amounts of energy. He said that in 2017 the government had installed more than 1.5 million (1.5 mn) LED streetlights, reducing energy use and carbon emissions, and ministers Suresh Khanna, Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi, Dayashankar Singh and Jaswant Singh Saini attended.