GMR Airports Limited (GAL) has emerged as the highest bidder for development, operations and management of a greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram in Andhra Pradesh on a public-private partnership basis.
The initial investment for phase one is estimated at Rs 2,300 crore, GAL's parent company GMR Infrastructure informed stock exchanges on Wednesday. The initial capacity in phase one will be six million passengers per annum.
Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation Limited (APADCL) had initiated the request for proposal process in November 2018. The project involves design, build, finance, construction, development, up-gradation, modernisation, operation and maintenance of the airport for a period of 40 years.
As part of the qualification process, APADCL shortlisted seven applicants: GMR Group, GVK, Dolt Infra, I-Investment, NIIF, Essel and Reliance Infra. However, only GMR Group, GVK and Dolt Infra submitted their financial bids.
In calendar year 2018, the existing civil enclave at Vishakapatnam Naval Airfield handled 2.33 million passengers and about 5,000 tonnes of cargo. Over the past four years, passenger traffic at the Vizag airport has grown at 14 per cent CAGR while the airport ranks fifth among the custom airports in India in terms of cargo traffic.
The proposed greenfield airport site lies on the border of Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts, and is nearly 45 km from Visakhapatnam through NH-5 and 25 km from Vizianagaram via NH-43. The site is strategically located on the east coast and stands to get benefitted from the vast catchment area surrounding the region.
Moreover, the beach corridor development is underway near the proposed international airport in Bhogapuram, which will provide impetus to retail and hospitality developments in the region.
"We look forward to work on this prestigious airport and will aim to deliver an airport of global standards which would be a matter of pride for the region of Visakhapatnam and provide a further fillip to the economic potential of Andhra Pradesh," said G B S Raju, Business Chairman of GMR Group. "The win has reinforced the position of GMR Airports Ltd as a major global airport operator.
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