The pre-bid conference for request for proposals for the development of a greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district saw 13 reputed national and international agencies/companies taking part. Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, Energy, Infrastructure, Andhra Pradesh, said: “Thirteen agencies were taken on the field visit at Bhogapuram for better understanding of the field conditions. The agencies are expected to submit their response to the RFQ (Request for Quotation) by September 10.”
Ramky, Essel, GVK, GMR, ADPI (France), NIIF (with Fraport), Oberoi, AECOM of America, BIAL, Reliance with Zurich Airport, Italy Group (EPC and minor stake in Airports) are among those who participated in the meeting.
Jain said the commercial operations from Dagadarthi, Nellore airport will commence from January 2020. Dagadarthi is envisaged as a low-cost, no-frills airport on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. The 1,352-acre airport project to be developed at a cost of ₹368 crore will be the first in bifurcated Andhra Pradesh to come up on a PPP basis.
The passenger air traffic has increased at an annual growth rate of 33 per cent from 1.3 million passengers per annum in 2014 to 4.1 million passengers per annum in 2018, Jain said.
Source: The Hindu Business Line