Hailing the vision and leadership of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, GMR Group Chairperson Grandhi Mallikharjuna Rao has said that the Chief Minister is very progressive and forward-looking, who lays emphasis on connecting the seaports with airports for the holistic development of Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing the gathering after participating in the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the international airport along with the Chief Minister here on Wednesday, GMR said: ‘’It is the happiest day in my life and I am greatly satisfied that we are constructing a world-class international airport in my home region. The designs for the newly constructed airport are readied after going through the culture and tradition of Andhra Pradesh.”
During the Global Investors Summit (GIS) in March, the GMR Group had announced that it would invest Rs 5,000 crore in the first phase of the development of the airport, which would serve six million passengers annually, he said, adding that the world-class international airport here, along with the best cargo operations, would accelerate the airport-led economic development of Andhra Pradesh on the lines of Hyderabad and Delhi.
Recalling his association with former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy, he said that the foundation stone for his first airport in Hyderabad was laid and inaugurated in 2008 by YSR. Besides, YSR had also been part of the Delhi airport inauguration, he said, and now, following his father’s footsteps, Jagan Mohan Reddy has laid the foundation stone for the Bhogapuram airport. He wished that the Chief Minister would also inaugurate it.
Promising the Chief Minister that the GMR Group would complete the construction of the Bhogapuram airport in 36 months on the lines of the Hyderabad Airport, he said that the venture would turn into an economic engine creating a lot of employment and that its cargo operations would serve as a boon to agriculture, aquaculture, pharma and other industries by making exports easier.
After Hyderabad and Goa, the airport coming up at Bhogapuram will be the third greenfield airport in the country.
