Bhogapuram, 13th June 2020: GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited (GVIAL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of GMR Airports Ltd (GAL), today announced that it has signed the Concession Agreement for the development and operations of Greenfield International Airport at Bhogapuram in Andhra Pradesh with the AP Government. In April 2020, GAL had received the Letter of Award for the project’s implementation on a PPP basis.
The project involves designing, building, finance, construction, development, operation and maintenance of the Greenfield International Airport at Bhogapuram for the period of 40 years. It is extendable by additional 20 years through international competitive bidding process, with GMR airports limited having RoFR (Right of First Refusal) of 10 per cent.
In the 2019 calendar year, the existing civil enclave at Vishakapatnam Naval Airfield has handled 2.78 million passengers and 4400 tons of cargo. Over the past five years, the passenger traffic at the Vizag airport has grown at 21 per cent CAGR while the airport ranks fifth amongst the custom airports in India in terms of cargo traffic.
The proposed greenfield airport site lies on the border of Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts. It is approximately 45 kilometers from Visakhapatnam through NH-5 and 25 kilometers from Vizianagaram via NH-43. The site is strategically located on the east coast and it stands to 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. This will provide an impetus to the retail and hospitality developments in the region.