GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Ltd (GVIAL) has signed the concession agreement for development and operations of a greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram in Andhra Pradesh with the state government.
In April 2020, its parent company GMR Airports Ltd had received the letter of award for implementation of the project on a public-private partnership basis.
The project involves the design, build, finance, construction, development, operation and maintenance of a greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram for the period of 40 years, extendable by additional 20 years through the international competitive bidding process, with GMR Airports Ltd having the right of first refusal of 10 per cent.
In the calendar year 2019, the existing civil enclave at Vishakapatnam Naval Airfield handled 2.78 million passengers and 4,400 tonnes of cargo. Over the past five years, the passenger traffic at the Vizag airport has grown at 21 per cent compound annual growth rate while the airport ranks fifth among the custom airports in India in terms of cargo traffic.
The proposed greenfield airport site lies on the border of Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts and is about 45 km from Visakhapatnam through NH-5 and 25 km from Vizianagaram via NH-43.
GVIAL said the site is strategically located on the east coast and is stands to get benefit from the vast catchment area surrounding the region. Moreover, the beach corridor development is underway in proximity to the proposed international airport in Bhogapuram which will provide impetus to retail and hospitality developments in the region.
"We aim to build a truly world-class airport at Bhogapuram which would be a matter of pride for the state of Andhra Pradesh and provide a further fillip to the economic potential of this region," said G B S Raju, Business Chairman of GMR Airports.
( With inputs from ANI )