Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that Jewar airport in Uttar Pradesh could eventually be privatised once its connectivity improves, putting the ownership and public-asset implications of the upcoming airport at the centre of a political exchange.
Speaking to reporters in Ballia on Thursday, Yadav said the airport had been built with the purpose of being sold. He alleged that the Centre had sold major and smaller airports across the country and would not spare Jewar airport either. His comments were reported by the Times of India.
“Today I am announcing something: that Jewar airport has been built with the purpose of selling it off. The day connectivity of this airport improves, it will be sold off,” Yadav said, according to the report.
The statement links the airport’s future directly to the improvement of its transport connections. Yadav did not cite a government notification, transaction document or official plan to support the claim in the comments reported by the newspaper. The report also does not state that any decision to privatise or sell Jewar airport has been announced by the Centre or the airport authorities.
The issue is significant because airport connectivity is central to the operational viability of a large aviation project. Better road, rail and other transport links can expand the airport’s catchment area and influence how passengers, airlines, logistics operators and surrounding businesses access the facility. In Yadav’s formulation, improved connectivity would also increase the airport’s value as a public infrastructure asset.
Jewar airport has also become part of a wider political debate over the naming and ownership of major public projects. Responding to the reported decision to rename the airport after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Yadav said he had no objection to the name. He added that projects were generally named in memory of people, but claimed that some people began naming projects after themselves when they were uncertain whether they would be remembered.
The Samajwadi Party president also used the interaction to reiterate that his party would contest the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections as part of the alliance that included the Congress during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He dismissed suggestions of seat-sharing difficulties with the Congress, saying such issues had not been a problem in the past and would not be one in the future.
Yadav further criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party over comments about his visit to Ayodhya to attend a Bhagwat Katha. He alleged that donations and offerings at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya had been stolen under what he described as a self-identified Sanatani BJP government. The report provides no additional details about the allegation.
For Jewar airport, the immediate public question raised by the remarks is not only whether ownership could change, but also how connectivity improvements and future management decisions will be communicated. No official response from the Centre or the airport authority to Yadav’s privatisation allegation was included in the report.
