Lucknow, May 20 (IANS): The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given the nod to the greenfield project, the much-awaited construction of Jewar airport in Noida.

In a tweet, S.P. Goyal, principal secretary to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, said, "Glad to share that Zurich Airport International AG has got the security clearance for development of Noida international airport."

The project has been awaiting the MHA nod, after the environment ministry gave its approval following the response of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), the agency which is piloting the project.

The Swiss firm AG International had on November 29 emerged as the highest bidder to develop the Jewar airport on the outskirts of Delhi, outbidding competitors like Adani Enterprises, DIAL and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holding.

The entire project will be spread over 5,000 hectares and estimated to cost Rs 29,560 crore.

The airport, the third in the national capital region after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport and Ghaziabad's Hindon airport, is touted to have six to eight runways.

The Uttar Pradesh government has set an aggressive deadline for the completion of the Jewar airport project, targeting operationalisation of its first phase by 2023. The first phase of the airport would be spread over 1,334 hectares and cost Rs 4,588 crore.

Sources said that implementation of the project would take place in four phases, with the last phase scheduled for completion by 2040.

The Jewar airport in Greater Noida would be able to handle over 160 million passengers per annuum making it the largest airport in India.