VIJAYAWADA: The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved allotment of 1800 sqm of Airports Authority of India’s (AAI’s) land to the Andhra Pradesh Education and Welfare Infrastructure Development Corporation (APEWIDC) for a period of 15 years at a nominal licence fee of `1 per annum, for the construction of Ceremonial Lounge at Tirupati Airport.
Tirupati, being the abode of Lord Shri Venkateswara, is frequently visited by VVIPs/VIPs. Construction of a Ceremonial Lounge will offer better amenities to the visitors. The Ceremonial Lounge will be maintained by the APEWIDC.
Meanwhile, in the Rajya Sabha, replying to a question raised by YSRC member V Vijaya Sai Reddy, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri said runway expansion of Tirupati Airport was taken up at a cost of `177 crore to facilitate landing and takeoff of large aircraft. The works are expected to be completed by 2021.
The minister said the delay in the runway expansion works is due to the delay in handing over the balance 30.88 acres of land by the State government to the AAI. The removal of the high-tension power cables in the land given for the runway expansion also led to delay. He explained that the new integrated terminal building at Tirupati airport taken up at the cost of `181 crore in June 2011 was completed by December 2015.
496 cr released for Amaravati
To the YSRC member’s question regarding funding to Amaravati under Smart Cities Mission, Hardeep Singh Puri, who is also the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs in a written reply, said `496 crore was released to Amaravati under Smart Cities Mission since 2017-18 and out of it, `472 crore was spent. For Visakhapatnam `299 crore was released in 2015-16 and `196 crore was released for Tirupati in the same year.
For 100 cities selected under Smart Cities Mission in the country, `23,054 crore was sanctioned and `18,614 crore was released so far, he explained. To a question on the reasons for the delay in expeditious implementation of smart cities’ mission, the minister explained that their intention was not to implement the mission in a hurry. “The focus is on the quality of projects under the mission,” he said.
After the selection of cities under Smart Cities Mission, creation of special purpose vehicle, project management consultancies, human resources mobilisation, DPR will be take up and only after all those issues are completed, tenders for the projects under the mission will be invited. It is a time-consuming process and since 2018, the works under Smart Cities Missions has been expedited, the minister explained.