The Union Aviation Ministry on Friday approved a second international airport in the Delhi-National Capital Region, at Greater Noida’s Jewar in Uttar Pradesh, The Hindu reported. Union Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said, “We have granted in-principle approval for a greenfield airport at Jewar to cater to the growing flying requirements of NCR. The first phase will be developed on 1,000 hectare land.”

The airport will be spread over 3,000 hectares and will bring in investments of up to Rs 20,000 crore. It will cater to three to five crore passengers per year, and will cost around Rs 10,000 crore to set up.

The Steering Committee of the Ministry of Aviation gave its approval for the airport on Friday after taking inputs from Airports Authority of India, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Defence Ministry and other concerned ministries.

The airport will be built using a public-private partnership model with GMR Infrastructure.

Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey said bidding for the airport will be complete in the next five to six years. He claimed that farmers are ready to give land for the airport project “at negotiated terms”.

The plan to build a new airport at Jewar was first submitted by the Mayawati in 2003, when she was Uttar Pradesh chief minister. However, it was scrapped in 2012 by her successor Akhilesh Yadav, who instead proposed an airport site between Agra and Mathura. After Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Gautam Budh Nagar, Mahesh Sharma, pressed for an airport in his constituency, the proposal was revived.