The GMR Group has secured the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approval for developing the greenfield Bhogapuram International Airport about 35 km from Visakhapatnam.
The State Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, approved the development of the Bhogapuram airport, which was earlier cleared for development under the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.
In February 2019, the diversified infrastructure company GMR had become the successful bidder outbidding GVK and Doit offers. The process was based on revenue share model and the project cost was then pegged at ₹2,700 crore, to be completed in 36 months.
To be developed in phases, the total project cost was estimated at ₹4,208 core and of this ₹2,700 crore was to be invested in phase-I.
GMR will now be allocated 2,200 acres, as against 2,703 acres, which was approved to be allotted earlier. The remaining land parcels will be developed by the State.
PPP mode
Though the airport project was to be taken up during the previous regime, not much progress could be made apart from approving the contract to GMR in February 2019.
Now, with the Jagan Mohan Reddy Government deciding to make Vizag one of the three capital cities in the State, the new airport project is likely to be expedited.
Efforts are also on to work towards paving way for developing a metro line link to the airport.
Significantly, in the first tenders invited by the previous Chandrababu Naidu regime, the Airports Authority of India had pipped private developers, including GMR.
However, the State Government then invited fresh tenders adding additional facilities during the airport development, including a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility. And GMR won the mandate outbidding others.
After assuming office, the YS Jagan Government cancelled several contracts awarded by the Naidu regime and decided to invite fresh tenders for projects. Significantly, this is the only major project which the new government has given the go ahead and now provided Cabinet nod.
A letter from the Editor
Dear Readers,
The coronavirus crisis has changed the world completely in the last few months. All of us have been locked into our homes, economic activity has come to a near standstill. Everyone has been impacted.
Including your favourite business and financial newspaper. Our printing and distribution chains have been severely disrupted across the country, leaving readers without access to newspapers. Newspaper delivery agents have also been unable to service their customers because of multiple restrictions.
In these difficult times, we, at BusinessLine have been working continuously every day so that you are informed about all the developments – whether on the pandemic, on policy responses, or the impact on the world of business and finance. Our team has been working round the clock to keep track of developments so that you – the reader – gets accurate information and actionable insights so that you can protect your jobs, businesses, finances and investments.
We are trying our best to ensure the newspaper reaches your hands every day. We have also ensured that even if your paper is not delivered, you can access BusinessLine in the e-paper format – just as it appears in print. Our website and apps too, are updated every minute, so that you can access the information you want anywhere, anytime.
But all this comes at a heavy cost. As you are aware, the lockdowns have wiped out almost all our entire revenue stream. Sustaining our quality journalism has become extremely challenging. That we have managed so far is thanks to your support. I thank all our subscribers – print and digital – for your support.
I appeal to all or readers to help us navigate these challenging times and help sustain one of the truly independent and credible voices in the world of Indian journalism. Doing so is easy. You can help us enormously simply by subscribing to our digital or e-paper editions. We offer several affordable subscription plans for our website, which includes Portfolio, our investment advisory section that offers rich investment advice from our highly qualified, in-house Research Bureau, the only such team in the Indian newspaper industry.
A little help from you can make a huge difference to the cause of quality journalism!
Support Quality Journalism
Please Email the Editor