The Prime Minister inaugurated the Noida International Airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh, marking the opening of Phase One and describing the event as a milestone in the state's development. The project was delivered with an investment of Rs 112 billion (bn) and is expected to position the airport as a gateway for North India. The Prime Minister observed that Uttar Pradesh has become one of the states with the highest number of international airports and that the new facility will be integrated with regional growth plans. He said the airport will serve a wide region incorporating Agra, Mathura, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Etawah, Bulandshahr and Faridabad and will create opportunities for farmers, small and medium enterprises and young people in western Uttar Pradesh. The airport will form part of a multi?modal logistics network where two major freight corridors converge at Dadri, enabling agricultural and industrial produce to reach ports and global markets rapidly. The Prime Minister indicated that such connectivity is likely to attract investment and speed up food processing prospects in the region. The address placed the inauguration in a broader context of global supply challenges and energy security, with the Government acting to shield households and farmers from shocks arising from the conflict in West Asia. He underlined the role of ethanol from sugarcane in reducing crude oil imports and said that increased blending had saved substantial foreign exchange, quantified as about Rs one and a half trillion (tn). He also cited the scale of potential imports avoided as roughly 45 million (mn) barrels and about seven billion litres annually. The Prime Minister highlighted concurrent projects in western Uttar Pradesh, including semiconductor investment, rail upgrades and metro expansion, and said these developments will create jobs and training opportunities across aviation and in maintenance, repair and overhaul activities where 85 per cent of Indian aircraft still go abroad for servicing. He noted that the Government has approved an expansion of the regional connectivity scheme with about Rs 290 billion (bn) for new airports and helipads, and that an MRO facility foundation stone was laid at Jewar.