Chennai's Second Airport At Parandur To Be Built With Rs 20,000 Crore With Capacity To Handle 100 Million Passengers

With Parandur selected as the site for the second international airport near Chennai City, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister (CM) M K Stalin outlined his vision for the new airport.

The Chief Minister said it is imperative for Chennai to have a new airport to meet its demands, attain our goal of a USD 1 Trillion economy and make Chennai the best destination for investments in Asia.

Currently, the existing international airport at Meenambakkam of Chennai handles around 400 flights and almost 40,000 passengers per day (2.2 crore passengers per year).

With no chances to expand its runway or facilities, the present airport is expected to reach saturation soon (3.5 crore passengers per year). Thus the second airport is a necessity, according to infrastructure experts.

Giant Greenfield Airport For Tamil Capital

Parandur, the site for Chennai's second airport, is located around 15 km northeast of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. The shortest road route from Parandur to the existing Chennai airport is 59 km and to Chennai City centre is 70 km.

While the existing Chennai airport is spread across 1,317 acres, the new airport at Parandur is planned to be built on 4,971 acres.

CM M K Stalin said that the new airport would be built with an investment of Rs 20,000 crore with a capacity to handle 100 million passengers per annum.

"The airport that would be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore, will have two runways, terminal buildings, taxiways, aprons and cargo terminals," the statement released by CM read.

"The application to get the site clearance from the committee or Union Civil Aviation Ministry is expected to be submitted soon. Subsequently, the in-principle approval and permission to operate would be obtained from the civil aviation ministry," he added in the statement.

According to the DT Next report, CM Stalin said that both the existing airport at Meenambakkam and the upcoming airport at Parandur would function simultaneously, catering to the rapidly increasing demand in the civil aviation sector.

Thus, similar to Delhi (Delhi and Noida Airports), Mumbai (Mumbai and Navi Mumbai Airports) and Goa (Dabolim and Mopa airports), Chennai may soon get two airports system.

Budding Opposition To Second Airport

Though union and state governments are keen to rapidly develop the second airport for Chennai, there is a budding opposition to this massive infrastructure project.

While lakhs of flyers in and around Chennai expressed their happiness about the second airport site announcement, the villagers in and around Parandur expressed their shock.

"We've been here in the village for the last 50 years. As per the map released by the government, 5 villages would be destroyed for constructing a new airport. Even if the government gave us compensation for our land, we don't know what to do for a living, since we know only farming. All of us are shocked by this decision and are planning for a big protest soon. Even last month, the district collector assured us that the airport would not be constructed in Parandur," Selvaraj from Parandur village told DT Next.