Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram district, a greenfield project worth nearly INR 5,000 crore that is expected to significantly boost connectivity and economic growth across the state’s north coastal region.
Developed by the GMR Group, the airport will commence commercial flight operations from August 17, with an initial annual passenger handling capacity of six million, which is planned to be expanded to 40 million passengers in future phases. Bhogapuram becomes the second greenfield airport in India to become operational this year, following Uttar Pradesh’s Jewar airport, which began commercial operations on June 15.
The Andhra Pradesh government has positioned the Bhogapuram airport as a key infrastructure milestone aimed at accelerating industrial development, job creation, exports, skill development and research across North Andhra. Spread over 2,200 acres, the airport has been developed by GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Ltd (GVIAL) under a Public-Private Partnership model, using the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer framework.
The broader integrated development spans 2,703.26 acres in total, comprising the airport itself, a 500-acre aviation hub, and an aviation university and EduCity spread across 136.63 acres, alongside airside infrastructure and supporting commercial and residential development. GMR Group noted that the airport was completed several months ahead of its original schedule. During the inauguration, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu briefed the Prime Minister on the project’s key highlights.
GMR Airports Ltd, which currently operates six airports, described Bhogapuram as its third greenfield airport after Hyderabad and Goa. GMR Airports Ltd Business Chairman G.B.S. Raju expressed confidence that the airport would become a major gateway for India’s eastern corridor, driving long-term investment, employment and regional prosperity.
Beyond the airport, Modi also laid the foundation for and inaugurated a series of projects worth nearly INR 18,000 crore across Andhra Pradesh. These included the INR 460 crore ASIP Semiconductor Project in Visakhapatnam—the state’s first semiconductor manufacturing facility approved under the India Semiconductor Mission—along with multiple renewable energy transmission projects in the Kurnool and Ananthapuram regions, developed by POWERGRID at a combined investment of several thousand crore rupees. These transmission systems are expected to support the integration of renewable energy into the national grid and contribute to India’s broader clean energy and decarbonisation goals.