Chennai city will get its second airport at Parandur, announced Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin. The Tamil Nadu government has zeroed in on the Parandur site for the development of the Greenfield airport which is estimated at Rs 20,000 crore.
With the ever increasing passenger and cargo volume, state-run Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (TIDCO) started looking for land for another airport. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) zeroed in on four sites including Pannur, Parandur, Padalam and Thiruporur as the site for the Greenfield airport. Finally, a decision was made between Pannur and Parandur.
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The new airport will have an annual capacity of 10 crore passengers. The new Greenfield airport will have two runways, terminal buildings, taxiways, apron, cargo terminal and other required amenities. The present Chennai International Airport at Meenambakkam handles 2.2 crore passengers annually and this is expected to go up to 3.5 crore at the end of the ongoing expansion work after 7 years.
“The plan estimate for the new airport will be finalised after preparing the detailed project report (DPR). The tentative plan estimate as of now is Rs 20,000 crore,” said M K Stalin in a statement. The existing and the proposed airport which is 70 km away from Chennai and is closer to the proposed Chennai Bengaluru expressway will operate jointly.
The Tamil Nadu state government has already submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for the grant for the clearance of the Parandur site. This will be followed by taking an “in-principle” approval for the Greenfield airport project and permission to operate it from the Union Government’s Ministry of Aviation.
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