Hosur airport: In another step forward, Tamil Nadu shortlists two sites

Chennai: Two sites, located within a distance of 10 km from the private airport owned by Taneja Aerospace and Aviation, have been shortlisted by the Tamil Nadu government for a detailed feasibility study to house the greenfield airport for Hosur. 

These sites were chosen from five locations surveyed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in September this year, based on a request from the state government. 

The locations that were studied include the existing airstrip, Thogarai Agraharam, Dhasapalli, and Shoolagiri, where the Tamil Nadu government is building an industrial park to accommodate more industries that are flocking to Hosur, just 40 km from Bengaluru. 

After the AAI submitted a report on its inspection of all four sites, the Tamil Nadu government held back-to-back discussions to take forward the issue. DH had on November 30 reported that the state government will soon shortlist two locations from the five sites for a detailed study. 

“We evaluated all the five sites and found three of them unsuitable for building an airport. One site was close to a waterbody, and the remaining two had one problem or the other. We have shortlisted two locations – one near the existing airstrip another one located 10 km south of Hosur,” a top source aware of the discussions told DH.

The sites shortlisted are 2 km and 10 km from Belagondapalli village on the Thalli road in Hosur, where the private airstrip is located. The shortlisted site does not include the private airstrip, but land parcels located very close to the facility. Another site near Thogarai Agraharam, around 10 km south of Hosur has also been shortlisted. 

“We have to further study the two locations. We have asked for details of the government land available in these two sites and the extent of private land that we may have to acquire for the project. We have to undertake further surveys and studies of the two sites before choosing one,” the source added. 

The government will now write to the AAI to conduct a detailed study of the two sites. 

“The airport project is at a very nascent stage. We will need a lot of information about the two sites, and we believe a detailed study by the AAI will help us in this regard. All the efforts that are being put now make it clear that the government was committed to building an airport in Hosur,” another source in the know said.  

The government has already made it clear that it will keep in mind the concessionaire agreement signed between the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) that no airport should be constructed within 150 km of the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru till 2033. 

“We have been in touch with BIAL and Taneja for the past couple of years. We will continue to engage with them if the need arises,” the second source added.  

The development comes five months after Chief Minister M K Stalin on June 27 announced in the Assembly that Hosur will get an airport of its own spread over an area of 2,000 acres to handle about 3 crore passengers a year. The new airport, once commissioned, will have a single runway. 

The new airport in Hosur is also likely to cater to people living in many areas of south Bengaluru due to their proximity to the Tamil Nadu town. The Tamil Nadu government’s move also comes close on the heels of Karnataka mulling a second airport for Bengaluru near Tumakuru. 

Hosur is home to about 500 big industries and 3,000 MSMEs and now hosts Tata Electronics Private Limited, a key supplier of Cupertino-based Apple Inc and electric vehicle majors like Ola, Ather, Simple Energy, and TVS motor company.