The Union government has granted clearance for the greenfield airport in Tamil Nadu’s Parandur, which has faced stiff opposition from locals who are to be displaced due to the project.
The state government-owned Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO) had submitted an application to the civil aviation ministry for the grant of site clearance for the airport at Parandur in Kancheepuram district, 70km away from Chennai.
“After completion of the consultation process, the proposal was placed before the steering committee on Greenfield Airports and the same has been recommended for grant of site clearance to TIDCO for the development of greenfield airport at Parandur, Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu on 09.07.2024,” civil aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Monday in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. He was responding to DMK MP P Wilson’s question in the Parliament on the status of the greenfield Parandur airport. Wilson had met Naidu on June 3 seeking the Union government to give site clearance at the earliest.
The Tamil Nadu government plans to construct the greenfield airport in Parandur, spread across 4,000 acres at a cost of ₹32,000-crore, with a capacity to handle 100 million passengers a year.
{{/usCountry}}The Tamil Nadu government plans to construct the greenfield airport in Parandur, spread across 4,000 acres at a cost of ₹32,000-crore, with a capacity to handle 100 million passengers a year.
{{/usCountry}}Tamil Nadu’s proposal, sent in 2023 to the Union government, was examined in consultation with Airports Authority of India (AAI), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Ministry of Defence/Indian Air Force as per the Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008. The responsibility of implementation of funding and land acquisition, rests with the TIDCO, Naidu said.
The DMK government believes that the Parandur airport, also known to be Chennai’s second airport, is key to attaining its goal of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2030 and to make the state the best destination for investments in Asia.
The Parandur project is being opposed by locals who have been protesting for more than 700 days. Families in two of the 13 villages in Parandur (who have to give up their homes and agricultural lands for the project) are planning to move to Andhra Pradesh. The villagers of Ekanapuram and Nagapattu, who are more than 2,000 in number, first boycotted the Lok Sabha elections and have now decided to move to the neighbouring state which they say is to shame the DMK-ruled state.