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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 1997
( TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 30th July 2026 )
DEVELOPMENT OF DAGADARTHI AIRPORT
1997. SHRI PRABHAKAR REDDY VEMIREDDY
Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION
be pleased to state:-
(a) the timeline when the Dagadarthi Airport in Nellore district of Andhra
Pradesh was sanctioned;
(b) whether it is true that the Request for Proposals (RFPs) for design, build,
finance, operate and transfer of the said airport was invited long back and if so,
the details thereof;
(c) whether it is also true that the bids have been approved for the said purpose;
(d) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons for the delay and the time by
which the construction work of the airport is expected to commence; and
(e) the time by which the First Phase of the project is expected to be completed
and opened for public use?
ANSWER
Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION
(Shri Murlidhar Mohol)
(a) to (e): Government of India (GoI) has granted 'In-Principle' approval to
Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) in 2016 for development of a
Greenfield Airport at Dagadarthi (Nellore).
Initially on 07.06.2016, tenders were invited by GoAP for development of the
airport under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The Concession
Agreement signed in June, 2018 was later terminated in 2020 due to non-
conclusive financial closure by the selected bidder. Further tender for selection
of PPP Concessionaire was floated on 05.09.2025 followed by second call on
05.03.2026 and third call on 29.05.2026. No bids have been approved till date.
As per Greenfield Airports Policy, the responsibility of implementation of
airport projects rests with the airport developer concerned including the
respective State Government (in case the State Government is the project
proponent). The timeline for construction of an airport depends upon many
factors, such as, land acquisition, availability of mandatory clearances, financial
closure, etc.
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