GANNAVARAM: The Customs Preventive Commissionerate (CPC) here applied to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for height clearance of nine metres for its headquarters building coming up opposite the Gannavaram airport.
The AAI is expected to give its nod in a few weeks thereby paving the way for construction of a new CPC building which will be spread over 11,500 square metres. According to senior officials in the Customs Department, the building will be a G+1 structure having Office of the Commissioner of CPC and offices of two Central Excise Divisions that fall under the purview of the Guntur Commissionerate. A clearance of nine metres, including top elevation (overhead tanks etc.), was sought and an application is being submitted online.
The AAI has stipulated that the height of buildings cannot exceed MSL + 3.93 metres, which is around nine metres. Foundation for the new building is expected to be laid in December and inauguration made in April 2019.
The total project cost estimated by the Central Public Works Department stands at Rs.55 crore and it is likely to be revised downwards as the budget might not permit.
Residential quarters and other buildings will come up after the offices are constructed after 2019 in the four acre site in close proximity to the rapidly evolving Gannavaram airport. The CPC was carved out of the Commissionerate of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax in Guntur and it is the first Central government office that made Vijayawada its base.
