HUDCO to release Rs.650 cr to acquire land for Bhogapuram Airport

Decks have been cleared for an important milestone for the major project of the Bhogapuram International Airport near Visakhapatnam.

The Andhra Pradesh Finance department, HUDCO and the Special Purpose Vehicle Bhogapuram International Airport Company Ltd., entered into a formal agreement on Thursday that the Andhra Pradesh Government would stand guarantor to the Rs.650-crore loan to be extended by HUDCO.

The amount will be utilised by the government to acquire 2,400 acres for the Airport in the first phase. As per the agreement, “The amount will be released by the HUDCO in 10 to 15 days to BIACL.

The BIACL will keep the money at the disposal of Vizianagaram District Collector to start the land acquisition process and make the payments to the land owners,” official sources said.

This is one of the major projects proposed by the Investment and Infrastructure department. Earlier the department proposed to acquire 13,000 acres under land pooling and it was met with stiff resistance from local people and farmers. Subsequently, the government decided to acquire only 2,400 acres in the first phase under the Land Acquisition Act after a series of meetings with the stakeholders.

The government had agreed to pay more amount than stipulated under the LA Act under the Relief and Rehabilitation package, sources added.

 

 

SOURCE: PTI