VIZIANAGARAM: Fresh tenders will be invited for the greenfield international airport proposed at Bhogapuram of Vizianagaram district, Union Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Monday.Speaking on the sideline of the inauguration of an office building of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) near the Dandumaremma temple, Ashok said the earlier tender floated for the airport works signed with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) was cancelled as the AP government wanted it to be implemented under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
The scope of the project has also been expanded from a mere airport to an integrated airport with more facilities including an Aerocity, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit, an aviation academy and etc, he said. Reiterating that the improvement of cargo services is high on agenda of the Union Civil Aviation Ministry, Ashok said,” The Indian civil aviation industry has jumped to the top three positions in the world. We are giving the cargo services an equal priority.
The MRO (maintenance, cargo and overhauling) and cargo services will also be available at the proposed Bhogapuram airport,” he said. Asked about the budgetary allocation, he said the earmarked amount is likely to be revised and the ministry will come up with the figures after the revision. At the inauguration of the ACB office, Ashok said that the Vizianagaram ACB office built on an area of 3,500 sft with an investment of `94 lakh was the fifth one in the state.ACB DG RP Thakur, mines minister S Ranga Rao were also present. Later in the day, the union civil aviation minister also laid the foundation stone for a model police station building for the Two-Town police at Kottapeta. The two-storeyed facility which would be constructed at Rs 1.40 crore will have the state-of-art facilities.