SCL-Turbo, a consortium of Nellore International Airport Pvt Ltd, has signed a concession agreement for the development of a greenfield airport and a cargo hub at Dagadarthi, about 25 km from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.

Vankayalapati Umesh, Managing Director of Nellore International Airport, inked the concession agreement with M Venkateshwarlu, Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh Airport Development Corporation Ltd.

Investment

Vankayalapati Umesh told BusinessLine over phone, “The project will see an investment of ₹368 crore and will be ready by 2020. We expect this to play an important role in the rapidly growing industrial hub and the proposed Cargo Village will serve as a cargo hub for the State and also for Chennai.”

Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, Energy and Infrastructure for AP, said, “While the work on the airport is likely to begin in January 2019, it is expected to play an important role for not only regional connectivity but also serve as a cargo hub for the region.”

Described as one of the no-frills airports to be developed in the country, it will come up on 1,350 acres of land, which has already been acquired by the government.

“We expect to lay the foundation for the airport project in July or August, depending on the finalisation of date with the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu,” he said.

Revenue share

As per the concession agreement, a revenue share of 9 per cent will be extended to the government. There were only two in fray for the project.

The consortium has tied up with a French airport operator for operations and maintenance, he said. As per plans, it will have capacity to handle up to 2 million passengers a year and 55,000 tonnes of cargo.

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