Outbidding Indian companies such as DIAL and Adani, Zurich Airport International AG has reportedly been awarded the contract to design, develop and operate the international airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar in Noida.

As reports reveal, four bidders, namely, Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holding, Adani Enterprises, Delhi International Airport and Zurich Airport International AG, had bid for the project, but it is Zurich that has bagged the contract.

As reported, financial bids were opened before representatives of bidders at the Noida International Airport (NIAL) office and the bidder was selected on the basis of highest bid as per Premium per Passenger (PAX). Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings’s bid was Rs 205, Adani Enterprises’s Rs 360, Delhi International Airport’s Rs 351 but Zurich Airport International AG quoted the highest bid of Rs 400.97 PAX (as in the news).

Further, going by reports, it has been known that Zurich Airport International AG will be put up before PMIC (Project Monitoring and Implementation Committee) on December 2.

5,100 acre (2,063 hectare) has been acquired for the airport project and the environmental clearance has been obtained for what is slated to be one of the biggest airports in Asia.

Zurich Airport International has been reported quoted from a statement saying that it would develop and operate the new Noida International Airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh under a 40-year concession. The capital investment in the first phase of the project is expected to be about $650 million during the construction period of nearly four years. The first phase is expected to be able to accommodate around 12 million passengers per year.

About 5,100 hectare was earlier identified for the project by Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA). Of this, 240 hectare is known to be owned by the Uttar Pradesh Government, with the rest belonging to private individuals. About 1,327 hectare has been acquired by YEIDA for construction of terminal buildings and runways.

Jewar airport will be developed on the PPP model. Going by reports, the plan is to build a two-runway airport by 2022-23 and further in future have it extended to a 7,200-acre six-runway airport.