Noida, Nov 25 (PTI) The Noida International Airport in Jewar will transform the region which has been considered backward in terms of development until recently, local MLA Dhirendra Singh said on Thursday.Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Greenfield airport, which is billed to be Asia"s biggest airport upon completion and expected to bring in investments worth over Rs 30,000 crore in the region.Singh, who has been credited with successfully negotiating land acquisition dialogues with local villagers for the airport, said the project will usher in development and industrialisation in Jewar, some 75 km off Delhi in western Uttar Pradesh."I want to thank all the people of Jewar. Your support has made this day possible. Your participation in today"s programme with the prime minister and the chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) has been witnessed by all," the BJP MLA said."This region was backward and bereft of resources for employment. This international airport, which is going to be Asia"s biggest, will open doors of development for Jewar," he said.Singh, who himself drove a tractor to the foundation-laying programme leading a convoy of supporters, also lauded the locals for their enthused participation at the ceremony where several women were seen dancing to devotional tunes.Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was at the foundation-laying event, said the airport will fetch investments of over Rs 30,000 crore and generate one lakh job opportunities.The airport is to be developed in an area of 5,000 hectares with an overall estimated cost of Rs 30,000 crore by Swiss concessionaire Zurich International Airport"s subsidiary Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), according to officials.The first phase of the airport is to be developed in an area of over 1,300 hectares at a cost of over Rs 10,000 crore and should open for operations by September 2024, the officials said.The land for the first phase of the project has been acquired under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.The law was formed after a major and acquisition controversy involving protests against the UP government in 2011 at the adjoining villages of Bhatta and Parsaul in Greater Noida.The violence during the episode, infamously remembered as the Bhatta-Parsaul case, had led to death of three people, close to Jewar where the airport is being developed.  According to the new law, consent of more than 70 per cent villagers was required for the state government to move ahead with the land acquisition for the airport but negotiations often hit roadblock and the MLA played a key role in winning the support of villagers for the greenfield project, according to people privy to the development. PTI KIS ZMN