India's Airport Count Doubles as Modi Opens Bhogapuram Hub

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport near Visakhapatnam on Saturday, taking India's total number of airports to 166 from 74 in 2014. The new facility, built by the GMR Group at a cost of over ₹5,640 crore, is designed to handle 6 million passengers a year with capacity to scale to 40 million.

Modi said the government had spent ₹29,000 crore on making air travel more affordable. The spoke airport model, which connects smaller cities to regional hubs, now links 25 destinations from Amritsar, he said. The civil aviation sector had seen steep growth over the last 12 years, he added.

The airport sits on 2,200 acres in Bhogapuram, Vizianagaram district. Developed under a public-private partnership, the integrated passenger terminal is shaped like a local flying fish called Parava Meenu, meant to reflect Andhra Pradesh's culture.

G B S Raju, business chairman of GMR Airports, said the greenfield airport was built with a long-term vision to unlock opportunities in trade, tourism, cargo and aviation-related industries. Kanwarbir Singh Kalra, CEO of GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Ltd, said the project was completed ahead of schedule and designed as a future-ready, technology-enabled gateway.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the airport would act as a catalyst for the north Andhra region. He added that the first phase of the new capital Amaravati would be completed by 2028, with Modi expected to inaugurate it.