Bid papers for Bhogapuram airport to be released in July

Visakhapatnam: With higher compensation approved for land owners in Bhogapuram mandal, the bid documents for roping in a private partner for the Bhogapuram International Airport (BIA) project is expected to be released next month. At the same time, the state government is aiming to complete the environmental impact assessment study in the next couple of months.

The state government is also keen on acquiring the land for the project from the land owners for the first phase of the project. According to documents submitted to the ministry of environment and forests for obtaining the terms of reference, the first phase of BIA is estimated at Rs 2,461.27 crore requiring about 2004.54 acres.

A senior official associated with the BIA project said, "The bid documents for the Bhogapuram International Airport project are ready and we will be releasing them next month." He said, "The funding for the project is on a public private partnership model. The state government's equity is of course the land and Airports Authority of India may have some equity. The remaining will be from the private developer who will be execute the project."

"The state government has approved the compensation package for land owners in the three villages of Bhogapuram mandal. So, the Vizianagaram district administration will be provided the funds for the land acquisition early next week. They will distribute it to the farmers and take possession of the lands," said a senior AP government official. "Meanwhile, we are going ahead with the environmental studies. Once the environmental impact assessment study is completed, then the project will be headed for the public hearing," he added.

Subsequently, he said once the land acquisition and environmental impact assessment study are completed, the state government would approach the union ministry of civil aviation for a final approval for the project.

The state government has also agreed to private guarantee for a Hudco loan amounting to Rs 854 crore for development of the airport, following which a formal agreement was undertaken between the state govenrment, Hudco and the special purpose vehicle formed for the BIA earlier this month.

The state government has approved a higher compensation under the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 to the land owners of Gudepuvalasa, Kancheru and Kavulavada villages in Bhogapuram mandal, who would contribute around 1409.84 acres to the BIA project.

The airport is expected to be developed for operation of Airbus A-380 type aircraft in the first phase and with a runway length of 3,800 metres and will have a new runway, terminal building spread over 81,000 square metres.