The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) on Tuesday announced a budget of almost Rs 10,000 crore for 2024-25 fiscal, making provision of Rs 700 crore for Noida Airport expansion and Rs 300 crore for rapid rail connectivity.
Of the total budget, 80 per cent would be spent on land acquisition as the YEIDA has planned manufacturing clusters for electric vehicles (EVs), semi-conductors, Data Parks, among other specialised companies, officials said.
The YEIDA, which functions under the Uttar Pradesh government and manages land along the 165-km-long Yamuna Expressway from Greater Noida to Agra, also announced a hike of 5.41 per cent in the cost of land under its area.
The budget was presented to the YEIDA’s Board during its 80th meeting chaired by its chairman Anil Sagar which approved it.
“We have prepared an ambitious plan for development of new sectors new allotments, including innovative sectors like semiconductors and Data Park. We are acquiring land for eight new sectors, creating new land bank. For this, the budget this year is being increased from Rs 5,630 crore to Rs 9,992 crore, which is almost double as compared to last year. Of the total budget, over Rs 6,000 crore would be spent on land acquisition, Rs 2,000 crore in development works,” YEIDA’s CEO Arun Vir Singh said.
“In essence, almost 80 per cent of the budget, which is close to Rs 10,000 crore, would be spent on land acquisition and development of new sectors. These new sectors would have clusters for EVs, semi-conductors, electronic manufacturing, and dedicated parks for industries like leather, plastic, handloom and transport, etc. have been planned,” Singh said.
YEIDA, which is a 12.5 per cent stakeholder in the upcoming Noida International Airport, has planned connectivity between the airport and Delhi through Ghaziabad via the RRTS rail system.
“For acquisition of land for the third phase expansion of the airport in Jewar, a provision of Rs 700 crore has been made in the budget. Also, a provision of Rs 300 crore has been made in the budget for the rapid rail, which would be connecting the airport in Jewar to Ghaziabad,” Singh told reporters.
The airport is a PPP project of the Uttar Pradesh government which is being made by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a fully-owned subsidiary of Swiss firm Zurich Airport International AG. The first phase of the airport is scheduled to open for commercial operations by this year end.
Separately, the senior IAS officer said the YEIDA recently acquired 750 acre land in Aligarh district and work is under process to acquire 17-20 acre more land in Tappal area.
“This is an ambitious budget of almost Rs 10,000 crore and we never had a budget of this scale,” Singh noted.
Considering the cost inflation index, YEIDA has made an increment of 5.41 per cent in the cost of land in its area in this budget.
Singh reasoned that this is an increment due to the cost inflation index and done to make sure that this area remains a “lucrative destination for investors”.
“The move will also ensure that no extra burden is placed on the industries and there is not much difference in cost of land allotment to new industries,” he claimed, but did not explain how.
For residential sectors, the YEIDA is coming out with allotment schemes for vestibules and kiosks for cooperative milk distributors like Amul, Parag and Mother Dairy, he said.
This is not going to be a for-profit venture for the YEIDA, but to bring such cooperatives in the region to sell milk and groceries and benefit local residents, he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)
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Rs 10,000 crore Yamuna Authority Budget: Major provision for Noida Airport, rapid rail
