A long-cherished dream of north Andhra people, namely the Bhogapuram international greenfield, is going to become a reality with Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy setting the foundation for the works on Wednesday.
The airport is expected to cost approximately 4,592 crore and is slated to be ready in three years.
The Chief Minister has been working towards this project for some time, overcoming obstacles such as land acquisition and court issues, with the aim of transforming the northern Andhra region.
The Bhogapuram airport, which will be built through a public-private partnership between the AP Airports Development Corporation and the GMR Group, will become a vital engine for the state's development and promote tourism in northern Andhra.
With an area spanning 2,203 acres, the airport will cater to 60 lakh passengers per annum, with plans to gradually enhance the facilities to handle over 1.8 crore passengers per annum.
In addition to the airport, the Chief Minister also laid the foundation stones for several other projects, including the Vizag Tech Park Ltd (Adani Group) in Visakhapatnam, which will be constructed at a cost of 21,844 crore, the Tarakarama Thirtha Sagaram Irrigation Project in Vizianagaram district, costing 194.40 crores, and the Chintapalli Fish Landing Centre in Vizianagaram district, which will cost 23.73 crore.
The Adani Data Centre, with an expenditure of 14,634 crore, and the Technology/Business Park in Madhurawada, along with another 100 megawatts Integrated Data Centre and Technology/Business Park in Kapuluppada, costing 7,210 crore, are expected to create direct employment for 39,815 people and indirect employment for 10,610 people.
The Tarakarama Thirtha Sagaram Project aims to provide drinking and irrigation water to the Pusapatirega, Bhogapuram, and Denkada mandals of Vizianagaram district, benefiting 49 villages and supplying water to the Bhogapuram airport. The project is expected to be completed by December 2024.
The Chintapalli fish landing centre will benefit thousands of fishermen directly and indirectly in Vizianagaram district, costing 23.73 crores.
The establishment of a hyper-scale data centre and data hub in Visakhapatnam will lead to increased data speed and create more high-tech jobs in the region, helping to boost economic growth in the IT sector.