INDIA. GMR Airports Limited (GAL), a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure, today announced that it has received the Letter of Award (LoA) for the development and operations of a greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram in Andhra Pradesh from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
In February 2019, GAL had emerged in as the highest bidder for the project on a PPP (Public-private partnerships) basis.
The project involves the design, build, finance, construction, development, up-gradation, modernisation, operation and maintenance of the new airport at Bhogapuram for 40 years, extendable by an additional 20 years through an international competitive bidding process with GAL having the RoFR (rights of first refusal) of 10%.
In calendar year 2019, the existing civil enclave at Vishakapatnam Naval Airfield served 2.78 million passengers. Over the five-year period ending 31 December 2019, passenger traffic grew at +21% CAGR.
The proposed greenfield airport site lies on the border of Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts, and is approximately 45 kms from Visakhapatnam and 25 kms from Vizianagaram. The site is strategically located on the east coast and stands to benefit from the vast catchment area surrounding the region.
Moreover, a beach corridor development is underway in proximity to the proposed international airport in Bhogapuram, which will provide impetus to retail and hospitality developments in the region, GAL said.
GBS Raju, GMR Airports Business Chairman said, “We are very happy to be partnering with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to develop, operate and manage the prestigious Bhogapuram International Airport. We are excited about the potential of this region.”
About GMR Infrastructure Limited (GIL)
Publically listed GMR Infrastructure Limited is a leading global infrastructure conglomerate with interests in airport, energy, transportation and urban infrastructure. GMR Group’s airport portfolio has a 172 million passenger capacity in operation and under development.
The portfolio includes India’s busiest gateway, Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi; Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport; and Mactan Cebu International Airport (in partnership with Megawide) in the Philippines. Greenfield projects under development include an airport at Mopa in Goa and another in Heraklion, Crete, Greece in partnership with GEK Terna.
The GMR-Megawide consortium has also been awarded Clark International Airport’s EPC (engineering, procurement and construction project) in the Philippines. The group recently signed a concession agreement to commission, operationalise and maintain the civilian enclave at the Bidar Airport in North Karnataka, India.
GMR Group is also developing airport cities on the commercial land available around its airports in Delhi, Hyderabad and Goa.
