Parandur airport will be built to handle 10 crore passengers a year: Stalin

The new greenfield airport in Parandur, 70 km from the state capital, will be built at an approximate cost of Rs 20,000 crore to handle 10 crore passengers a year, chief minister M K Stalin said on Tuesday. The proposed airport will have two runways, multiple terminal buildings, taxiways, aprons, and cargo terminal, among other infrastructure.

Parandur, in Kanchipuram district, was chosen from the four sites that the Tamil Nadu government proposed to the Airports Authority of India (AAI). After inspecting all four locations—Tirupporur, Parandur, Pannur, and Padalam—the AAI shortlisted Parandur and Pannur, and left the choice up to the state government, which went with the former.

Railway connectivity—the nearest station Thirumalpur is just nine km away—and availability of huge land parcels seem to have worked in favour of Parandur. Thirumalpur is part of the Arakkonam-Chengalpattu railway line, and an airport at Parandur will bring in massive development in the relatively backward region.

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A day after Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen (retired) V K Singh announced Parandur as the new airport’s location, Stalin, in a statement, said the existing airport in Meenambakkam, which handles 2.2 crore passengers a year, can handle only a maximum of 3.5 crore passengers in the next seven years.

“It has been decided to have two airports. The existing airport will continue to operate even after the proposed facility comes into existence. The greenfield airport will be built with a capacity to handle 10 crore passengers a year. After preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR), the cost of the project will be decided,” Stalin said, adding that the approximate cost is Rs 20,000 crore.

The chief minister said the state government will submit a formal application with the union civil aviation ministry after it gives clearance for the site. The state government will launch land acquisition proceedings once the clearance comes. “Following this, we will get the in-principle approval from the union government,” he said.

Stalin also said the new airport was part of the efforts to make Tamil Nadu a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

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

The government’s 2006 plan to construct a greenfield airport in Sriperumbudur, just outside Chennai, did not take hold due to many reasons, including opposition from Pattali Makkal Katchi, an ally of the then Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government. Efforts in this regard by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government between 2011 and 2021 also did not fructify.

Besides Chennai, Tamil Nadu has five operational airports at Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Coimbatore, Thoothukudi, and Salem. 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.