Visakhapatnam: Bhogapuram, where the state government has planned a Greenfield airport and also an aviation city has turned out to be Vizag’s Shamshabad. The land rates in and around Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district have started skyrocketing after the announcement of greenfield airport here.

The price of land in this area was around Rs 8 to Rs 10 lakh per acre for the past few months ago but now it has gone up to more than Rs 40 lakh and cost of the lands at road side have touched Rs 1 lakh per acre. The Union government has announced that it is going to establish an ‘aero hub’ on 10,000 acres of land in this mandal. With this real estate businessmen are visiting the area to purchase lands.

After the announcement from the Union government regarding two major institutions here, real estate investors are rushing to this area and purchasing lands in advance and keeping it to sell them later at a profitable price. The investors from Vizag, Vijayawada, and Guntur are visiting Bhogapuram, Gudepu Valasa, Tudem, Chepalakancheru and inquiring about lands and prices.

Some of the investors are paying around 20-25 percent of the amount of total value in advance to the farmers and holding the land for a few days. After getting a good price for the land they are paying the remaining amount and registering the land in their names.

Middle men in Bhogapu-ram are busy explaining the details of lands to investors. The investors are depending on the middle men for information.