TIDCO to conduct techno feasibility study on second airport for Chennai

Expert committee to be formed to look into concerns raised about threat to waterbodies near the proposed airport site, says official

The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (TIDCO) will soon be conducting a techno feasibility study on the upcoming airport at Parandur and will be calling for bids from a strategic advisor in the coming weeks.

“There are many stages of technical planning involved and we will be roping in advisors and experts for this,” S. Krishnan, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries, Investment Promotion and Commerce Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, said while addressing a session on “Greenfield airport: Timely Initiative to Fast Track T.N.’s Growth” that was jointly organised by TIDCO and the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).

Mr. Krishnan pointed out that the government was looking into the concerns raised with regard to threat to waterbodies (in and around the proposed location for the new airport). He said an expert committee would be formed to look into the issue. “The committee will have experts from IIT Madras, which has the best civil engineering department in the country, and the College of Engineering, Guindy, the oldest college in the country, to ensure that flood-related issues are resolved because resilience is very important aspect for infrastructure,” Mr. Krishnan said.

Thangam Thennarasu, Minister for Industries, said the new airport at Parandur was the need of the hour, especially for the economic growth of the State. Noting that there had been suggestions to ramp up the existing Chennai airport rather than going in for a new one, Mr. Thennarasu said: “On one side, we have a river and on the other side is the Defence land. We have a hillock on another side and the current airport is surrounded by human habitation.” Because of these constraints, the government decided to look for land outside Chennai, the Minister added.

Kapil Kaul, CEO and Director of Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation India Pvt Ltd (CAPA India), said that without a new airport, the aviation and economic competitiveness of Tamil Nadu would be severely compromised.

“A new airport will enable Chennai to leverage its geographical location and multimodal infrastructure to establish itself as a passenger and freight hub between India/South Asia and ASEAN/Australia,” he added.