Tamil Nadu invites proposals to prepare DTER for development of airport

Notwithstanding stiff resistance from villagers with regard to land acquisition, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday invited proposals from consultants for preparing a Detailed Techno Economic Report (DTER) for development of a greenfield airport for Chennai near Parandur in Kanchipuram district.

The report will include Environment Impact Assessment, Environment Management Plan, and social impact studies, besides carrying out market demand assessment and air traffic forecasting, and additional specific reports to obtain the required clearances for the proposed airport from various agencies.

It will also carry out contour survey, topographical survey, geotechnical survey, meteorological assessment, earth filling and grading, hydrological survey, watershed management, interconnection of surrounding water bodies, and OLS study survey.

The tender floated by Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) says the last date to submit proposals is January 6, 2023. The government, which has come under severe criticism for choosing Parandur surrounded by lakes and waterbodies as the location for the new airport, hopes to build a brand-new facility by 2030.

The new airport, which is expected to be built at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore, will have two runways, multiple terminal buildings, taxiways, aprons, and cargo terminal among other infrastructure. It is being built to handle about 10 crore passengers a year.

The consultant, apart from preparing a DTER, will also come out with a detailed Master Plan to make the proposed airport and study the economics of stopover of the over-flying aircraft at the new facility, possible diversion of cargo movement from other airports, and short term & long term parking space for cars, buses, cargo vehicles and staff vehicles.

The government is also planning to constitute a team of experts from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) and College of Engineering, Guindy to study issues related to water flow and address them as protesters say the new airport will “float” as it will be constructed on water bodies.

Officials said the consultant will also re-assess the land requirements for the various components of the Greenfield airport and other city-side developments which will generate non-aviation revenue at the airport site and determine the phase-wise development of the project. The report will also clearly delineate the exact extent of land parcel required for the first phase of the project development.

“With the above identification of the key facilities and associated areas, the Master Plan shall be prepared showing the location of all airport facilities and ensure that the city side development proposals are properly integrated with the overall development,” the tender document says.

The consultant will study disaster risk concerns and come out with a mitigation strategy, besides carrying out site-specific geo-surveys/ other studies, OLS (Obstacle Limitation Surface) study and to prepare, provide aeronautical charts and maps with due approval of AAI.

The report will also include historical passenger and aircraft movements and cargo traffic growth of Chennai airport over the last 15 years, assess the peak hour operating capacity of Chennai Airport and forecast future passenger, aircraft and cargo traffic up to the financial year of 2069-70 at an interval of five years starting from 2023-24 fiscal.

The study will also go into regional connectivity and the accessibility of the site, number and length of Runways and taxiways, number of aircraft parking stands and other airfield facilities and development, passenger and cargo terminal development and its utilization, ground access and external connectivity infrastructure, MRO, hangars for domestic and international airlines, and aviation fuel storage.

The government has announced that it will provide 3.5 times the market rate as compensation besides an alternate land for housing and a government job for each family affected by the land acquisition for the airport.

Though the number of flights and the daily footfall have increased manifold over the years, the city is bereft of a swanky airport like the ones Bengaluru and Hyderabad boast of. The AAI has been expanding the terminal buildings in the existing airport to cater to the ever-increasing rush but a new airport is long overdue.

Besides Chennai, Tamil Nadu has four operational airports – Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Coimbatore, and Thoothukudi. The state government has now commissioned a study to explore the feasibility of setting up an airport in the industrial city of Hosur located just outside Bengaluru.