Land acquisition for new Chennai airport accelerates despite protests

Chennai: Notwithstanding fierce opposition from a section of villagers, the Tamil Nadu government has quietly acquired over 30 per cent of the nearly 3,800 acres to be purchased from individual landowners for building a greenfield airport for Chennai in Parandur in Kanchipuram district.

The government hopes to acquire another 40 per cent of the land from private owners by February 2026 before the state enters assembly elections mode.

Of the 5,746 acres needed for the Rs 27,000-crore project, which will have two runways, a dedicated cargo village, and an aero city, the government owns about 1,900 acres and has decided to acquire 3,800 acres across 13 revenue villages.

Of this, over 1,100 acres have been transferred to the government’s name from private individuals since July by paying anywhere between Rs 15 lakh to Rs 1.10 crore as compensation per acre.

“We are now in possession of about 3,000 acres, including the government-owned 1,900 acres, which is more than half of the total land needed to construct the airport. These lands are located in less problematic areas where people willingly gave away their properties in lieu of compensation,” a source involved in the project told DH.

The source said local authorities in Kanchipuram district are confident of acquiring another 1,000 to 1,500 acres from villagers by February 2026, taking the figure to 2,600 acres, leaving just about another 1,200 acres to be purchased.

“Initially, villagers showed hesitancy in handing over the land for the project, but the compensation package, which is about three to seven times higher than the guideline value in the area fixed by the government and includes rehabilitation, helped break the ice,” the source added.

However, the stumbling block is Ekanapuram village where residents have been protesting against the project since August 2022 – the project cannot take off without acquiring land from this hamlet, which will be the greenfield airport’s runway. This is likely to delay the project by at least a year.

“Acquiring land from Ekanapuram is not a possibility until after the Assembly elections are over. The government decided in July not to use force or coerce people to part with their lands. But we are hopeful that the land acquisition will be completed in about a year from now,” a second source added.

While acknowledging the fierce protests by villagers of Ekanapuram, where the proposed airport’s runway will be located, the second source said a sizeable section of farmers and villagers are willing to give up their lands, especially after the government fixed compensation rates about three to seven times higher than the guideline value set for the area.

“Dealing with residents of Ekanapuram is tricky as they have been protesting for the past 1,000 days. While 500 acres will be acquired from the village, almost 60 percent of the 1,000 houses to be razed for the project are in this hamlet. Unless Ekanapuram residents agree, we cannot launch the project,” the second source added.

The state government feels an airport in Parandur is absolutely essential for Chennai, which has grown leaps and bounds, and continues to attract investments in various sectors, including electronics and automobiles.

Moreover, the existing airport in Meenambakkam is beset with problems, including losing several key routes to more swanky airports in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

The airport’s lack of adequate infrastructure to handle the ever-growing passenger traffic causes severe inconvenience to fliers who often take to social media to complain.

The second source said with the Centre granting in-principle approval for the project, the government is preparing documents to float the bid for selecting a concessionaire to build the airport.

The government’s 2006 plan to construct a greenfield airport in Sriperumbudur did not materialize due to various factors, including opposition from the PMK, then an ally of the DMK government. Efforts by the AIADMK government from 2011 to 2021 also failed to bear fruit.