India's Largest Multi-Modal Cargo Hub At Noida Airport On Track For November Finish

The work for building the integrated multi-modal cargo hub (MMCH) at Noida International Airport is in full swing and expected to be ready by November end this year.

“The work on the multimodal cargo hub at Noida International Airport (NIA) is going on in full swing and the ground filling work is complete. The foundation work is underway and it will be ready by November,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer, Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), a Uttar Pradesh government body formed to oversee the work of greenfield project

Spanning across 80 acres of land, the upcoming cargo hub, which is the largest in the country so far, will provide quick, convenient and intermodal connectivity to and from manufacturing hubs in the country. It is being developed by Air India SATS (AISATS), a joint venture between Air India Limited and Singapore Airport Terminal Services.

NIA signed an agreement with AISATS for the development of the cargo hub in February 2023. This project includes an integrated cargo terminal combined with an Integrated Warehousing and Logistics Zone.

Designed as a versatile logistics hub, it will feature a transhipment center alongside dedicated areas for freight forwarders and integrators. The MMCH will facilitate seamless transportation, supporting road-to-road, road-to-air, and air-to-road operations.

Officials said that the project is progressing according to schedule. Currently, the focus is on constructing superstructures such as pardi wall casting and installing pre-engineered buildings (PEBs). The next phase, scheduled from August to October 2024, will involve final fitting works to ensure the facility is fully operational.

The greenfield airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh, is being developed to enhance domestic, as well as international connectivity to and from Delhi-National Capital Region, Noida and western Uttar Pradesh.

The airport — billed to be India's largest upon completion — is being developed by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a fully-owned subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, in partnership with the state government.

Zurich Airport International AG won the bid to develop Noida International Airport in 2019 and the concession period officially commenced on 1 October 2021 and and will run for 40 years.

With Tata Projects as the engineering, procurement, and construction partner, the airport is estimated to cost Rs 5,700 crore and is set to open by the end of 2024 with an initial capacity to handle 12 million passengers annually, with provisions for future expansions.