Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the much-awaited Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram on August 1 (Saturday).
Built at a cost of ₹5,640 crore, the greenfield airport, regarded as one of Andhra Pradesh’s most significant infrastructure projects in recent years, is expected to give a major boost to air connectivity, tourism, trade, and industrial development in the north coastal region.
Besides inaugurating the airport, Mr. Modi is scheduled to dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone for multiple development projects worth over ₹17,900 crore across Andhra Pradesh.
The Prime Minister’s visit also marks his first public programme after the recent protests at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, making the event politically significant as well.
According to the official schedule, the Prime Minister is expected to arrive at the airport at around 10.45 a.m. He will be accorded a grand welcome, with 13,000 students performing the tribal Dhimsa dance.
At 11 a.m., Mr. Modi will undertake a walkthrough of the state-of-the-art passenger terminal building to review the facilities and infrastructure. At 11.30 a.m., he will inaugurate the airport and unveil plaques for various development projects before addressing the gathering.
Mr. Modi will also lay the foundation stone of the ASIP Semiconductor Project in Visakhapatnam, being developed with an investment of over ₹460 crore. The facility is being developed by ASIP Technologies Private Limited in partnership with APACT, Republic of Korea. It is Andhra Pradesh’s first semiconductor manufacturing facility approved under the India Semiconductor Mission.
The facility will manufacture around 96 million semiconductor chips annually and create high-skilled employment opportunities, while also fostering a robust ancillary ecosystem to support semiconductor manufacturing.
The Prime Minister will also lay the stone for the 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 (SPV), with an investment of ₹5,550 crore.
Mr. Modi will inaugurate the Transmission System for Kurnool Wind Energy Zone/ Solar Energy Zone (Andhra Pradesh)– Part A & Part B, implemented at a cost of ₹3,550 crore, and the Transmission Scheme for Solar Energy Zone in Anantapur (2,500 MW) and Kurnool (1,000 MW), implemented by POWERGRID at a cost of over ₹820 crore.
These projects will enable the evacuation of power generated from renewable energy zones in Kurnool and Anantapur and the transmission of power to beneficiaries across the country through the National Grid.
They will facilitate the integration of a large quantum of renewable energy into the grid, improve the availability of clean power for demand centres, and contribute to India’s energy transition and decarbonisation efforts by reducing dependence on fossil fuel-based power generation.
The Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for National Highway projects worth over ₹1,880 crore. The projects include the four-lane access-controlled greenfield highway from Recherla to Guruvaygudem section of NH-365BG, four-lane access-controlled greenfield highway from Guruvaygudem to Devarapalle section of NH-365BG, and four-lane Tadipatri bypass on NH-67.
Mr. Modi will also lay the stone for the high-level bridge at Lingasamudram on the Penchalakona–Yerpedu section of NH-565.
