The foundation stone for the first industrial park under the Yamuna Motorway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) was placed, with the planned Noida international airport at the centre of big-ticket investment ambitions.

The Apparel Park will be built on 175 acres, for which YEIDA has already given plots to 39 firms. 81 of the 89 plots have been assigned to separate enterprises. Plans and checklists have also been distributed to more than 60 businesses.

With an expected investment of Rs 3,000 crore, the Park is likely to provide jobs to around 3 lakh people, 75% of whom will be women. Officials said the Park would earn Rs 10,000 crore in foreign currency annually through the export of garments.

Arun Vir Singh, the YEIDA CEO, said most of the companies given physical possession of plots would begin construction in a month.

Lalit Thukral, president of the Noida Apparel Export Cluster, said the move would provide a much-needed boost to the sector that suffered massive losses during the pandemic.

“Noida is known as the city of apparel because of the large number of manufacturing units there. Currently, there are around 4,000 factories manufacturing readymade garments. Collectively, they have an investment of around Rs 40,000 crore annually. The target is to take up the exports to Rs 60,000 crore over the next three years,” he said.