Work on AP’s Orvakal airport to beginsoon, land acquisition near completion

Work on the greenfield airport of Orvakal near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh is set to begin within a few days and will be completed in 12-18 months.

Having secured various mandatory clearances, including clearance from Union Civil Aviation Ministry in October 2016, the State Government will begin work on the new airport planned to come up about 20 km from Kurnool town on the Kurnool-Nandyal section.

Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, Infrastructure and Energy, told

BusinessLine , “Ninety-five per cent of the land acquisition for the airport project has been completed and works are likely to commence within a week. Of the 900 acres, more than 700 acres belongs to the government and the rest is also expected to be acquired soon.”

“The project is being implemented by the government itself as the invitation for private sector participation did not receive good response as they do not see this segment profitable. Therefore, we have tendered out for construction companies and will invest about ₹90 crore for the project. We expect to connect to Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru and other locations, just as Kadapa airport provides connectivity to some major cities,” he said.

3.5-km runway The no-frills airport will have a runway of about 3.5 km, a terminal building and the airport area would have a protection wall. This airport would join the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Udan scheme which seeks to provide regional connectivity. It is expected to boost the economic activity in the Rayalaseema region.

Bhogapuram International Corporation Airport Ltd (BIACL), a special purpose vehicle formed for development of new airports in the State, has been allotted about 639 acres in the Pudicherla, Orvakal and Kannamadakala villages for the airport project.BIACL has the mandate to develop greenfield airports at Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram near Visakhapatnam, Kuppam in Chittoor district, Dagadarthi in Nellore and Orvakal in Kurnool.

The BIACL, which is developing a major international airport with an outlay of ₹2,261 crore, plans to encourage setting up of a MRO (maintenance, overhaul and repair) facility and commercial space, has secured environmental clearance and the land acquisition is at advanced stage and likely to be completed soon.

Hiccups There are some pockets in both at Bhogapuram and Orvakal projects which need to be acquired and there is some opposition from local people and land owners. In some cases the problem is pronounced as there are multiple claimants without having title.