Bharat Times
After a long delay, the Visakhapatnam International Airport project is all set to take off. The ground for the Visakhapatnam International Airport is now cleared and as per officials, construction will soon begin for the airport. The construction could not take place for over eight years due to various reasons. Now, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s Office has written to the Prime Minister’s Office requesting that Narendra Modi lay the foundation stone, possibly virtually, for the new airport construction during his visit to the port city of Visakhapatnam on November 12. However, the PMO has not included it in Narendra Modi’s itinerary yet, the officials stated.
Development of the new international airport in Public-Private Partnership mode at Bhogapuram, 40 km northeast of Visakhapatnam, was first mooted in the year 2014, post-bifurcation of the state as the existing one in the city is owned by the Indian Navy.
The original plan was grandiose as the state government wanted to build an aerotropolis that would include aviation-linked manufacturing units, aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, research and development centre and test laboratories, multi-modal logistics, exhibition and conference centres, leisure and entertainment facilities, aviation education and training facilities.
The plan also included the development of the airport with “one runway, parallel taxiway and other infrastructure capable of servicing world’s largest aircrafts”.
