GMR hails YS Jagan’s vision, wishes CM will inaugurate Bhogapuram airport

BHOGAPURAM, Vizianagaram district: GMR Group Chairperson Grandhi Mallikharjuna Rao recalled how YS Rajasekhara Reddy laid a foundation stone and inaugurated his first airport in Hyderabad and wished that his son and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy too would open the Bhogapuram airport for which the latter laid a stone on Wednesday.

Hailing the vision and leadership of Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, GMR, as he is popularly known, said that the Chief Minister was most progressive and forward-looking in laying emphasis on connecting the seaports with airports for holistic development of Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing the gathering after the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for the international airport here, GMR, said, “It is the happiest day in my life and I am immensely happy about constructing a world-class international airport in my home region. The designs for the new airport have been 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. The world-class international airport here along with best cargo operations will accelerate the airport-led economic development of Andhra Pradesh on the lines of Hyderabad and Delhi, he added.

Recalling his association with former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy, he said that the foundation stone for his first airport at Hyderabad, was laid and inaugurated in 2008 by the late leader. Besides that, YSR had also been part of the Delhi airport inauguration, he said, and now following in his father’s footsteps, Jaganmohan Reddy has laid the foundation stone for the Bhogapuram airport and wished that the Chief Minister would also inaugurate it.

He promised the Chief Minister that the GMR Group would complete construction of Bhogapuram airport in 36 months time on the lines of Hyderabad Airport. He said that the venture would turn into an economic engine, creating a lot of employment and its cargo operations would serve as a boon to farmers and sectors like aquaculture, pharma and other industries by making exports an easier proposition.

After Hyderabad and Goa, the airport coming up at Bhogapuram will be the third greenfield airport in the country, GMR said.