The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has approved a proposal to rename Noida International Airport as Narendra Modi International Airport, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath saying the move recognises the Prime Minister’s 25 years in public life.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting on Friday morning. Adityanath said the proposal was intended to express the state government’s gratitude for Modi’s “guidance and contribution” to Uttar Pradesh’s development.
“The Noida International Airport is a major gift to Uttar Pradesh from the Prime Minister,” said Adityanath. “In the coming years, this airport will take the state’s economy, industry, tourism and global connectivity to new heights. With this very sentiment, the Cabinet has passed the proposal,” The Indian Express has quoted.
The Cabinet also adopted a congratulatory resolution marking Modi’s milestone. He completed 25 years as the head of a government on October 7.
NCR’s second major airport
Located in Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar district, Noida International Airport is being developed as a secondary commercial aviation hub for the National Capital Region (NCR), alongside Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, as reported by The Indian Express.
The airport was inaugurated by Modi on March 28, with commercial operations beginning in June. It is connected to the region through the Yamuna Expressway and planned multi-modal transport links.
The greenfield project is being developed through a public-private partnership involving Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, and Uttar Pradesh state authorities, as reported by The Indian Express.
The airport’s initial phase includes one runway and a passenger terminal designed to handle up to 12 million passengers annually. Further expansion is projected to increase its capacity to as many as 70 million passengers a year by 2050, while the second phase is expected to become operational in 2031-32.
Adityanath described the facility as the state’s largest airport and said it would be developed into one of India’s major aviation hubs, improving connectivity with expressways across Uttar Pradesh, as reported by The Indian Express.
Modi’s political ties with Uttar Pradesh
The Chief Minister also highlighted Modi’s 25-year political journey, describing it as one shaped by “service, dedication and nation first”.
“It is not merely a journey of power or governance, but one from public service to public welfare and from public participation to public trust,” he said, The Indian Express has quoted.
Adityanath referred to Modi’s political association with Uttar Pradesh, where he represents Varanasi in Parliament.
Recalling the Prime Minister’s statement in 2014, when he said “Mother Ganga has called me” upon arriving in Varanasi, the Chief Minister said the relationship between Modi and the city had grown beyond political representation to “encompass its development, spiritual revival and the broader development of UP”.
“Under the Prime Minister’s guidance and through the coordination of the ‘double-engine’ government at the Centre and in the state, a new work culture for development evolved in Uttar Pradesh,” the CM said, The Indian Express has quoted.
ISSUE
Leave a Comment