Modi to Inaugurate Bhogapuram Airport
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram on Saturday, marking the completion of one of Andhra Pradesh’s biggest infrastructure projects.
Built at a cost of ₹5,640 crore, the greenfield airport is expected to improve air connectivity in north coastal Andhra Pradesh and boost tourism, trade and industrial growth. Mr. Modi will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for development projects worth over ₹17,900 crore across the State.
The visit is politically significant as it will be his first public programme since the recent protests at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
According to the official schedule, the Prime Minister will arrive at 10.45 a.m. and will be welcomed by 13,000 students performing the tribal Dhimsa dance. He will inspect the passenger terminal at 11 a.m. before inaugurating the airport at 11.30 a.m. He will then unveil plaques for various projects and address a public meeting.
Mr. Modi will lay the foundation stone for the ₹460-crore ASIP Semiconductor Project in Visakhapatnam, being developed by ASIP Technologies Private Limited in partnership with APACT of the Republic of Korea. It is Andhra Pradesh’s first semiconductor manufacturing facility approved under the India Semiconductor Mission.
The facility is expected to manufacture about 96 million semiconductor chips annually, create high-skilled jobs and support a semiconductor ecosystem in the State.
The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for the ₹5,550-crore Transmission System for Integration of Kurnool IV Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) Phase I (4.5 GW), being implemented by POWERGRID through a Special Purpose Vehicle.
He will inaugurate the ₹3,550-crore Transmission System for the Kurnool Wind Energy Zone/Solar Energy Zone (Part A and Part B) and dedicate the ₹820-crore Transmission Scheme for Solar Energy Zones in Anantapur (2,500 MW) and Kurnool (1,000 MW).
These projects will enable the evacuation of renewable energy from Kurnool and Anantapur, strengthen the National Grid, improve the supply of clean power and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Mr. Modi will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for National Highway projects worth over ₹1,880 crore. These include the four-lane access-controlled greenfield highway from Recherla to Guruvaygudem, the Guruvaygudem-Devarapalle stretch of NH-365BG, the Tadipatri bypass on NH-67, and a high-level bridge at Lingasamudram on the Penchalakona-Yerpedu section of NH-565.