Centre okays setting up three greenfield airports in AP

A central government panel on Monday gave its nod for setting up three greenfield airport projects in Andhra Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 2,376 crore. The steering committee on Greenfield Airports headed by Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Choubey recommended “in principle” the approval for three projects in Andhra Pradesh — Bhogapuram, Dagadarthi (Nellore) and Orvakal (Kurnool).

The panel also recommended site clearance for a project in Telangana’s Kothagudem, according to an official statement. The new international airport at Bhogapuram will be developed by the state government under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model at an estimated cost of Rs 2,200 crore to cater to 6.3 million passengers annually in the initial phase.

The other two will be developed as domestic no-frills airports at an estimated cost of Rs 88 crore each. Dagadarthi will come up under the PPP model, whereas the Orvakal project will be developed by the state government. With the new project in Kothagudem, Telangana will get its second greenfield airport, besides the international airport at Hyderabad.