Bhogapuram International Airport is a proposed greenfield international airport project to be built near

Bhogapuram Bhogapuram is a village in Vizianagaram district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Bhogapuram mandal of Vizianagaram revenue division. Geography Bhogapuram is located at and at an altitude of . The village is spread ov ...

in Vizianagaram district, about north-east of

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

History

Planning

There was a proposal for setting up a

greenfield airport A greenfield airport is an aviation facility with greenfield project characteristics. The designation reflects certain environmental qualities (using previously undeveloped or empty greenfield land, for example) and commissioning, planning and cons ...

under the erstwhile

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

state at Visakhapatnam. Alternate sites like

Bheemunipatnam Bheemunipatnam (also known as Bheemili), is a suburb of Visakhapatnam, India. The town was named after Bhima, a character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It formerly administered under the Bheemunipatnam municipality, but merged into GVMC in 2017. ...

Sabbavaram Sabbavaram is a mandal in Anakapalli district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. There are three universities in the town: * Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University * Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy * Indian Maritime Unive ...

, Atchutapuram, and Koruprolu were also considered. The

Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...

(AAI) gave its technical approval of the project site in June 2015. The request for proposals (RFP) for the project was issued in July 2016, and AAI and the

GMR Group GMR Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in New Delhi. The group was founded in 1978 by Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (G M Rao) and comprises several companies including GMR Infrastructure, GMR Energy, GMR Airports, GMR En ...

submitted their technical and financial bids in August 2017. The current

Visakhapatnam Airport Visakhapatnam Airport is a customs airport in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It also operates as a civil enclave on an Indian Navy airbase named INS ''Dega''. It lies between the city localities of NAD X Road and Gajuwaka. The airport ...

is a civil enclave on a naval airfield which operates only one international flight due to its status as a "restricted international airport", while the Navy proposed the flying slots for civilians in the existing airport and hence suffers from constraints.

Construction

The airport's foundation stone was laid by the government of Andhra Pradesh on 14 February 2019, with initial plans to develop the mega aerotropolis on an estimated 5,311 acres of land, consisting of Bhogapuram Airport, cargo facilities, an MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility and an aviation academy.

The government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

has acquired 2,703 acres of land because of land agitation from locals, including 1,673 acres of government land allotted for the project. An in-principle approval has been granted for the project, that would be developed by the

government of Andhra Pradesh Government of Andhra Pradesh, abbreviated as, GOAP, or, Andhra Government, is the Subnational administrative division, subnational government for the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is an elected government with 175 Member of the Legislative ...

under a PPP basis. A pre-bid meeting was held in August 2018, for which 13 developers showed interest in developing this airport. The government finally approved the GMR Group, who also operates the international airports of Indira Gandhi International Airport at New Delhi and Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad. However, the successive YSRCP government fixed 2,200 acres to

and reduced the land for the purpose while keeping aside 500 acres of land under the control of state government with no official reasons mentioned. The airport would be constructed on a final 2,200-acre site in and around Bhogapuram that serves the city of Visakhapatnam. It would be built by GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited (GVIAL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) owned by the GMR Group that was set up in June 2020. The project would be taken up in the

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Administ ...

(PPP) mode with the state holding a stake in the form of land holdings. The proposed airport is 45 km away from Visakhapatnam, 25 km away from Vizianagaram and 63 km away from Srikakulam cities. The airport majorly serves the North Andhra and Southern Odisha regions and is expected as a major source of employment in the region. The region is connected to the proposed airport by National Highway 16, National Highway 26 currently and also through Vizag beach corridor and Vizag metro in the future. While APSRTC plans to run connecting buses to nearby cities, Vizianagaram junction is the nearest railway station at a distance of 26kms. Currently, one 3800m long runway of 12L / 30R orientation is being planned along with MRO facilities. In September 2022,

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

officials have agreed to move the Visakhapatnam Airport to Bhogapuram. Regarding this,

and Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation Limited (APADCL) officials has signed a MOU in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. On the other hand, only 28 more acres have to be collected for construction in Bhogapuram. The trial in the court cases on this issue has been completed and the verdict is in reserve. The airport's construction is expected to start by the end of 2022, and is expected to be completed by December 2024. Upon completion of Phase 1, the terminal handling capacity is expected to be 6.3 million passengers per year, and will rise to 18 million passengers per year upon completion of Phase 2.

References

Airports in Andhra Pradesh Proposed airports in Andhra Pradesh Buildings and structures in Vizianagaram district Transport in Vizianagaram district {{India-airport-stub