New Chennai Greenfield International Airport is a proposed

greenfield airport A greenfield airport is an aviation facility with greenfield project characteristics. The designation reflects certain environmental qualities (using previously undeveloped or empty greenfield land, for example) and commissioning, planning and cons ...

project to serve the city of

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It will be built near Parandur of

Kanchipuram district Kancheepuram district is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The area comprising the present day Kancheepuram district was earlier a part of Chingleput district. The original Chingleput district was split in 1997 into ...

in the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. It will work alongside

Chennai International Airport Chennai International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu and its metropolitan area. It is located in Tirusulam, southwest of the city centre. Chennai International Airport is the sixth busiest airpo ...

. The proposed airport will be spread around 5,000 acres. The

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, l ...

has declared that

Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) is a governmental agency in the state of Tamil Nadu, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies ...

(TIDCO) will lead the project. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) conducted surveys on various areas near Chennai for a new airport for the city. Initially, a site near Sriperumbudur was fixed for the airport. But due to delays and cost of the land, the government decided to set the new airport in Parandur. The airport will also boost trade from Chennai and neighbouring districts as it will have its own dedicated cargo terminal, leading to a rapid increase in the economic development of the state. The airport will be built on 4,970 acres of land. The distance between Chennai to Parandur is around 70 km, and from the existing airport is around 57 km, which takes around 1 hour 50 minutes to reach by road. AAI found two sites at Parandur and Pannur comparatively more feasible for development of airports. AAI has forwarded the pre-feasibility report to TNIDC, advising it to carry out Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS) survey and charting work at the two identified sites. After comparing the viability and feasibility, including the presence of habitations and industrial establishments and the land acquisition cost of both the sites, the Government of Tamil Nadu confirmed the Parandur site as the location for development of the greenfield airport.

History

The project was first proposed in 1998 by the then Minister of Civil Aviation,

Ananth Kumar Hegannahalli Narayana Shastry Ananth Kumar (22 July 1959 – 12 November 2018) was an Indian politician affiliated with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Min ...

. He first gave the plan for the proposal of a new airport which would serve as an alternative to the existing airport at Chennai, which in the future would get constrained and will not be able to cope up with the future traffic.

Connectivity

The airport will be linked via a spur road with the under-construction Bangalore–Chennai Expressway, and a proposed metro line of

Chennai Metro The Chennai Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the 4th longest metro system In india. The system commenced service in 2015 after partially opening the first phase of the project. The network c ...

, which will directly connect the city with the airport. Currently, the nearest railway station is the Tirumalpur railway station of the Chennai Suburban System, which is 10 km away from the airport.

Location

The airport will be built on 4,970 acres of land, spread over 13 villages in Parandur, a small town located in Kanchipuram district. The distance between Chennai to Parandur is around 70 km, and from the existing airport is around 57 km, which takes around 1 hour 50 minutes to reach by road.

Land acquisition protests

The people in the villages are against the project due to concerns of land loss leading to their loss of livelihood. The airport will be spread over 13 villages, where farming and fishing are the primary occupations of the people living in these villages. Farmers and fishermen have staged a walkout, and have said that they would vacate the land for the proposed airport only if they are allotted a plot of land, similar to the one they own at present, so that they could continue farming and fishing to sustain their livelihood.

Status updates

* April 1998: The then Minister of Civil Aviation,

, first gave the plan of proposal for the new international airport for Chennai. * October 1998: The

(TNIDC) identified a site for the airport 10 km south of Meenambakkam, which will be built in a Build-Own-Operate-and-Transfer (BOOT) Concept. * November 1999: The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

cleared the proposal for the airport. * November 2000: The airport's terminal was expected to come upon a 3,000 acre site likely in

Porur Porur () is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India. It is situated in the Maduravoyal taluk of Chennai district in the southern part of the city. Since 2011, it has been a part of the Chennai Corporation and included in zone number 11. The earliest ...

, located west of Meenambakkam. * May 2007: The then

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governors of states of India, governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, bu ...

, M. Karunanidhi, said more than 4,800 acres of land will be acquired for the airport in Sriperumbudur, which will have four runways. * March 2012: As part of the document of Tamil Nadu's Vision 2023, the airport is planned to be built at a cost of ₹ 20,000 crore. * January 2022: The

identified Padalam,

Thiruporur Thiruporur is a panchayat town in Chengalpattu district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Thiruporur Kandaswamy temple is situated in the center of the town. There is a large temple tank in the vicinity of the temple. Thiruporur is located ...

, Pannur and Parandur as the possible sites for the airport. * March 2022: After the pre-feasibility study and the inspection of the four possible sites identified by the Government of Tamil Nadu, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) shortlisted Parandur and Pannur as the sites for the proposed airport. * August 2022: The Government of Tamil Nadu finalises and selected the site of the airport to be built at Parandur. The airport is expected to be completed by 2028.

References