PM Modi Inaugurates ₹5,640 Crore Bhogapuram Airport, Andhra's New Aviation Hub for North Coastal Region
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram, a greenfield airport built at a cost of nearly ₹5,640 crore. The facility, completed ahead of schedule, is positioned as North Andhra's new aviation hub and is expected to improve air connectivity across the region.
Spread over 2,200 acres in Vizianagaram district, the airport will handle 6 million passengers annually in its first phase. The project is being developed by GMR Group on a public-private partnership basis. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu attended the inauguration alongside the Prime Minister.
The airport is expected to support tourism, trade, logistics and industrial development in the North Andhra region. State officials said the region has attracted investments of about ₹6.13 lakh crore over the past two years, with 189 projects planned to come up in the area.
The Bhogapuram project was first announced in 2015, with its foundation stone laid in 2019. Construction proceeded over subsequent years before completion of the first phase. The airport adds to India's expanding airport network, which officials said has grown from 74 airports before 2014 to 166 currently.