The Hindu Business Line : TN offers free land for international airport

THE Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been offered 1,440 acres of land free of cost and encumbrances by the Tamil Nadu State Government for the development of a new international terminal complex and other related infrastructure in Chennai, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, has said.

Replying to a question raised in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister said that the AAI has conveyed its approval to the State Government for taking over the land.

The land has been given on the northern side of the existing airport in Chennai, he said.

The Government has already indicated that the public-private partnership route will be followed for the development and modernisation of the airports in Chennai and Kolkata. Addressing business leaders in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, said that by March next year Chennai and Kolkata airports would be thrown open for private-public partnership.

Our Chennai bureau adds: A new international airport is a long-pending demand of the Tamil Nadu Government.

In 2000, the then Government commissioned a study by an international consultant firm to press its case for a new airport for the city.

Earlier this year, the Centre accepted the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa's request for a new airport for which the State Government also decided to hand over land.

Tamil Nadu's case is that air traffic, especially international traffic, has been growing what with a number of multinational companies - Ford, Hyundai, and Saint-Gobain Glass, to name a few - setting up manufacturing plants on the outskirts of the city.

Added to this is the growth in IT and IT-enabled services sectors that has resulted in more flights being operated to the city and an increase in passenger movement.

Figures available on the Airports Authority of India Web site show that international passenger traffic grew by 9.3 per cent during April-August 2005 over the same period last year, while international aircraft movement increased by 20 per cent during the period.

International freight grew by 14.3 per cent, from 58,747 tonnes during April-August 2004 to 67,121 tonnes during the same period this year.

Domestic passenger traffic dropped from 18,268 passengers from April- August 2004 to 17,177 passengers during the same period in 2005, a drop of six per cent.