Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday hit back at the Opposition for the row kicked up by the TDP over the laying of foundation stone for the international airport at Bhogapuram and several other key projects in the North Andhra region.

The TDP had called the laying of stone for the airport and Adani Data Centre projects an election stunt since the then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had already laid the foundation stones for the same projects five years back.

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Addressing a public rally at Savaravilli village shortly after laying the stone for the construction of the international airport at Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district, the chief minister said, “The TDP government had laid the foundation stone for this airport in 2019 just two months ahead of the elections without taking any land permits. This is how they fooled the public. However, all works and permits for the airport have been acquired by our YSRCP government. No conspiracy can stop development as long as I have your blessings.”

Reddy on Wednesday iterated his promise that he would shift to Visakhapatnam and administer the state from the port city from September, this year.

The international airport will be constructed at the cost of Rs4592 crore. It will begin its operations from 2026 with two runways and cater to 60 lakh people and later will be upgraded to provide facilities to 3 crore people. The government intends to make arrangements for A-320 and A-380 double decker flights to land at the airport that is being set up by the GMR group which had also built the airport at Hyderabad. The airport will be of equal distance from Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam and this would lead to a spurt in economic activity in the oft neglected region.

The chief minister also laid the foundation stone for three more projects – the Vizag Tech Park at an estimated cost of Rs21,844 crore, a drinking water project called Tarakarama Thirtha Sagaram project to be set up at an estimated cost of Rs194.40 crore and Chintapalli Fish Land Centre for Rs23.73 crore. Reddy said the international airport and the Vizag Tech Park will be the jewel of North Andhra and the epicentre of glory.

After laying the foundation stone for Adani Data Centre in the presence of Rajesh and Karan Adani, the chief minister pointed out that a submarine cable from Singapore will be brought in and along with the 300mw data centre park coming up at Vizag, the jump in connectivity, internet usage, data speed would provide a major boost to Vizag and transform it to a Tier I city.