New Delhi [India], November 24 (ANI): A day before the foundation stone laying ceremony of Noida International Airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday said the airport will be Asia's biggest and create employment for more than one lakh people.

Speaking to ANI, the union minister said, "Jewar airport will help in the development of the nation. It will be Asia's biggest airport. It will also create employment opportunities for more than one lakh people.""There were only two airports in Uttar Pradesh for the last 70 years but now Jewar airport will be the 10th airport to be built in the state in last seven years. Soon we will see 17 airports in the state. Previously, only 25 destinations were covered but now 80 destinations are covered," added Scindia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of Noida International Airport on November 25.

Spread over more than 1300 hectares of land, the airport is set to be the logistics gateway of northern India and will help establish Uttar Pradesh on the global logistics map.

Planned at a strategic location, the airport will help decongest the Indira Gandhi International Airport and cater to the people of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Agra, Faridabad and neighbouring areas.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, it is a greenfield project that will be implemented in four phases. The construction of the first phase will be completed in 36 months. The completed first phase of the airport will have a capacity to serve around 1.2 crore passengers a year.

According to Prime Minister's Office, the airport will be the logistics gateway of northern India. For the first time, an airport in India has been conceptualized with an integrated multi-modal cargo hub, with a focus on reducing the total cost and time for logistics. The dedicated cargo terminal will have a capacity of 20 lakh metric tonne, which will be expanded to 80 lakh metric tonne.

The airport will develop a Ground Transportation Centre that will feature a multimodal transit hub, housing metro and high-speed rail stations, taxi, bus services and private parking. This will enable seamless connectivity of the airport with road, rail, and metro.

The airport will also house a state-of-art MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhauling) Service. The design of the airport is focused on low operating costs and seamless and fast transfer processes for passengers. The airport is introducing a swing aircraft stand concept, providing flexibility for airlines to operate an aircraft for both domestic and international flights from the same contact stand, without having to re-position the aircraft.

It will be India's first net-zero emissions airport. It has earmarked dedicated land to be developed as a forest park using trees from the project site. (ANI)