Noida International Airport file photo
The country’s economy is expected to grow rapidly due to improved logistics in India’s three most populous states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. The best example of this is the Noida International Airport in Jewar (Uttar Pradesh), just 88 kilometers from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, which is scheduled to be inaugurated this summer.
Many other airports are also being built soon in the Ganga plains. After this, air travel will become much easier in this entire region. However, it is also true that all this is happening in an unplanned manner. This is an area where airport and metro services are expanding, but the Railways is far behind in taking advantage of the potential of this most densely populated area of ​​the country. The total area of ​​the three most densely populated states here is 4.24 lakh square kilometers and these are full of unregulated states and towns (sans towns) with more than 75 percent male population engaged in non-agricultural work. The area of ​​these three states is equal to the four states of South India.
After Noida airport, the already operational Andal airport in West Bengal can also provide opportunities. JSW Group plans to develop Andal Airport. Bihar is the most backward among these states, but Patna airport will be renovated here too by the end of this year. Apart from this, many other airports are also proposed to speed up the traffic in this region. With the coming into existence of new airports the economic geography of these three states will also change.
travel beyond the airport strip
The biggest among these projects is Noida International Airport. According to Tata Projects, the contractor of this project, Zurich Airport International has developed this airport. Noida International Airport will have an annual passenger capacity of 1.2 crore. Later its capacity will be increased to 7 crore passengers annually. The first phase of Noida International Airport was proposed to be operational from November 2024, yet it did not cause much wait and was completed with very little delay. 16 flights are operating daily from Andal Airport in West Bengal. This airport is about 80 kilometers from Kolkata. This airport has proved to be a boon for this highly densely populated southern region of West Bengal. Recently, JSW Chairman Sajjan Jindal made headlines by saying that he will buy stake in this airport. Jindal had said in Kolkata, ‘This will be his first step into the airport business.’
According to a Business Standard report, the investment by JSW Group company JSW Infrastructure means that it will buy stake from private investors in Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Limited (BAPL), the company that operates this company. The West Bengal government holds 26 percent stake in BAPL and Singapore’s Changi Airport holds 33 percent stake. The state has also started exploring other airport options. In this sequence, the operation of ships from Bagdogra connecting both Darjeeling and Gangtok has been increased.
Apart from Patna, Bihar has two fully developed airports at Gaya and Darbhanga. International flights to Buddhist religious sites in Bangkok and Yangon are available from both these airports. They have also saved a lot of travel time for the migrant population. There is more movement of migrants in Purnia area. Now these people do not have to travel five hours to catch a flight from Patna airport. They start their journey by plane from Darbhanga. The ticket fare between Delhi and Ahmedabad on normal days is Rs 5,000 but this fare is much higher than the train AC sleeper class (Rs 1,100). However, traveling by railway takes more time and tickets are available several weeks later.
Old challenges persist
There is mineral rich land close to Andal Airport. There is a strip of deep coal mines close to it. On the other side, there are big cities which are densely populated and depend on rail connectivity to reach Kolkata in the east or Delhi in the west. There is immense potential in this sector but the old risks continue unabated. With this, this project can prove to be very effective. Jindal had earlier warned that the land issue could be challenging. However, he said, ‘We want solution to all the issues.’ West Bengal also has military airstrips and land is not available to make these commercially viable. Therefore they have been closed. The expansion of Patna airport close to the river is also pending due to land related issues. The Airport Authority of India, which operates it, has also come to the conclusion that it cannot expand this mere two kilometer long airstrip. Despite this, the airport has been provided with parallel taxi tracks for aircraft to land or take off.
This government-owned company has renovated the terminal of Patna airport and it has become like a brand new one. The annual passenger capacity of this airport has increased from 30 lakh to 1 crore. It was to be inaugurated in January this year but then it was postponed to April. The people of the state have been demanding for a long time that international flights should be started. Now his demand is expected to be fulfilled.
Both BAPL and Patna will need to provide space for larger cargo operations. The reason for this is that the demand for low logistics costs is increasing rapidly in the cities of the region. The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has conducted a study titled ‘Draft Estimation of Logistics Cost in India’ in December 2024. “Logistics costs have an impact on a country’s manufacturing sector, export competitiveness and global positioning,” it said. One way to reduce this cost is to make land parcels readily available. In the latest edition of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Logistics Ease Across Different States 2024, Bihar and West Bengal have been ranked second and third respectively in terms of performance and logistics. Among the landlocked states, along with Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana and Uttarakhand have also performed well. But these states still have a long way to go for better transport connectivity.
For airports to become commercially viable, logistics operations are needed and that requires land. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have two air cargo terminals each while West Bengal has one air cargo terminal.
CRISIL data shows that the government had operationalized 84 airports and 579 routes under ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’, a scheme to strengthen regional connectivity in the country. Due to this, the number of common people traveling by air has increased significantly. Crisil said, ‘At present its impact is less, these airports contribute about two per cent to domestic air traffic. These air routes are important because they carry passengers to the airports of metropolitan cities.
What cargo hub?
The outlook for cargo hubs is also expected to change gradually. The recently opened airports in Patna and Ayodhya are mainly for passengers. In fact, Jewar is expected to become India’s largest cargo hub. The reason for this is that Uttar Pradesh is promoting itself as a manufacturing centre. Bihta in Bihar is also expected to focus on cargo. Bihar will get an opportunity to realize its potential in the food processing sector through Bihta Cargo. In the Budget for FY 2026, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that a food processing institute would be set up in Bihar. Andal will also be important as a cargo hub. The expansion of cargo business is expected to remove important obstacles. Currently only six airports handle about 90 per cent of Indian air cargo and all of them are in metros.
The report ‘Air Cargo Outlook 2025-2029’ by Trade and Transport Group’s logistics consulting firm ‘Trade Data Services’ has estimated that India’s air cargo will reach about 60 lakh tonnes (MT) by the end of this decade, while it is more than 37 lakh tonnes in the year 2025.
However, the data is based on projections of e-commerce growth. This does not include the major business of airports in the North Indian plains. Cargo companies like Dubai-based Solitair are planning to enter the Indian cargo market and are focusing on Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad in that order. However, an NCAER report last year said, ‘Logistics costs in India are considered disproportionately high, which impacts manufacturing growth and economic competitiveness.’ A series of airports in the Ganga plains can make a significant contribution in effectively changing these figures.
First Published – April 18, 2025 | 10:22 PM IST
