Noida Airport seeks suitable partner to create world-class cargo hub near Delhi

The Noida International Airport (NIA) is scouting for a suitable partner to create world-class warehousing and logistics facilities at Jewar, the site of the upcoming international airport near Greater Noida.

In February, the airport concessionaire Yamuna International Airport Pvt. Ltd (YIAPL) had solicited bids for designing, financing, building and transferring of integrated cargo terminal and integrated warehousing and logistics zone at Jewar through a Request for Proposal (RFP). Although details about bidders or the number of bids received have not been disclosed at this stage, the spokesperson for the concessionaire confirmed to Business Today about the search.

“We’re looking for a partner or a group of partners with whom to develop the air cargo and logistics environment to provide cargo terminals, cargo handling as well as space for warehousing for distribution,” informed CEO YIAPL, Christoph Schnellmann.

YIAPL is a subsidiary of Flughafen Zürich, the operator of Zurich Airport in Switzerland.

In the first phase of what would be the country’s largest airport once it’s ready by September 2024, more than 80 acres of land has been set aside on the eastern side for a large warehousing and logistics facility. To enhance connectivity, work will shortly start on an interchange to connect Yamuna Expressway to the airport site. This will be part of the 56 km Faridabad-Noida-Ghaziabad (FNG) Expressway that will also be connected to Gurugram.

“We’re extremely excited about the potential for air cargo and logistics given the accessibility to the airport and the strong industrial economic growth expected in the region,” informed Schnellmann.

YIAPL has already held parleys with several industry players in the industry – from airlines to freight forwarders to developers to manufacturers – to understand their expectations of a world-class warehousing and logistics hub.

“As part of our approach, we have a strong user focus to understand what the market needs and then find the right partners with whom we can deliver on them,” said Schnellmann.

Delhi NCR being the country’s largest urban agglomeration is one of the most important warehousing markets in the country.

“The Jewar International airport, which is proposed to be a multi-modal logistics hub and transport hub, is likely to completely transform the supply chain landscape in the region over the next 5-6 years,” predicted Bhupindra Singh, managing director, North India, at the advisory Colliers. “The development will not only cater to the intrinsic warehousing demand of the national capital region but also acts as a key storage and warehousing hub for the neighbouring states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and other distant regions in the North,” he added.

In the past year the area around the airport site has witnessed increased momentum in commercial activity, particularly warehousing.