Vizianagaram: Construction of Bhogapuram Airport finally kicks off

Vizianagaram: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is set to lay the foundation stone for the Bhogapuram Greenfield Airport at Vizianagaram on May 3.

He will lay the foundation stone in the presence of Chairman of GMR group GM Rao.

Spread across 2,203.26 acres in Bhogapuram mandal of Vizianagaram district, phase 1 of the airport is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 4,592 crore. Initial capacity of Airport would be six million passengers per annum and increase in a phased manner to more than 40 million passengers in a year

With the total project planned to be built in three phases, the Andhra Pradesh government has set a target of completing the first phase of works by December 2024.

On Wednesday, Jagan Mohan Reddy will reach M Ravivalasa village in Bhogapuram mandal at 10 am. He will lay the foundation for the international airport at 10.30 am. Later, CM will address the public. Jagan will be later visiting Visakhapatnam MP MVV Satyanarayana's residence to greet his newlywed son and daughter-in-law.

All about Bhogapuram Airport

Bhogapuram Greenfield Airport project has been awarded to GMR Group. An MoU was signed by the Andhra Pradesh government in June-2020 to construct the airport by the PPP partner. The AP government expects that once the foundation stone is laid for the project, the deadline will be set to complete the first phase by December 2024. The airport is designed to have 22 air bridges to accommodate 22 aircraft at a time.

It will be a smart airport with a focus on environmental sustainability and social development of the region through an inclusive approach. It will boost tourism in North Andhra and create direct and indirect employment in and around the airport region. According to the officials, As many as 5,000 people would get direct jobs during the construction stage of the airport, while the same would double during the operation phase. Around 80,000 jobs could be created through the supply chain multiplier effect.

Earlier, Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari announced the sanction of Rs 6,300 crore for a six-lane, 55-km national highway connecting Visakhapatnam Beach Road to Bhogapuram International Airport and to NH-16.

During the Global Investors Summit in Visakhapatnam, GMR said that they will invest Rs 5000 crores in Phase-1.

"We feel privileged to be developing the green field airport at Bhogapuram International Airport at Visakhapatnam in my home state. Phase I of the airport will serve six million passengers and an ultimate capacity of 30 million passengers. We will also be developing metropolis and airport cities around the airport, consisting of an industrial zone, airspace zone, education, and healthcare zone. We'll replicate the success of Hyderabad airport, and it will help in the transformation of Vizag city and also place the state on the global map as the most preferred investment destination.", said GMR during the summit.

Key Features

-Provision for development of an integrated logistics ecosystem

-Excellent road connectivity to Port and major highways

- Dedicated International & Domestic Cargo Terminal of 5000 sq mtrs to be developed in Phase I

-Modern facilities to handle all major commodities

-Catering to special needs of wide-body freighter operations

-Providing pharma cold chain related facilities

-Cargo Terminal and proposed Logistics ecosystem to provide an efficient global EXIM Gateway

-Gateway to be used for numerous industries from the North and East Andhra Region and adjoining States

404 families get new houses

Bhogapuram Airport was proposed after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. However, the project got delayed due to land acquisition hurdles.

The airport needed 2,203.26 acres of land for construction. While the lands were acquired from the locals, two housing colonies were being built for the families of four villages whose lands were acquired under new Rehabilitation & Resettlement (R&R) layouts

The airport project is displacing 404 families, and all of them would be accommodated in the housing colonies with roads and drains, electricity, drinking water facilities, schools, and parks.

Each family was given 240 sq yards and a compensation of Rs 9.5 lakh for the cost of construction and relocation.