The Centre has laid down certain strict conditions for the Tamil Nadu government while granting ‘in-principle’ approval for the ₹20,000 crore greenfield airport at Parandur near Chennai, meeting records show.
For instance, in the Steering Committee meeting held on March 12, the Airports Authority of India stated that the State government should compensate the AAI if Parandur airport commences operations before the existing Chennai airport reaches its capacity of 35 million passengers per annum. However, if passenger movement at the Chennai airport crosses 35 MPPA prior to the operationalisation of Parandur airport, AAI will not seek compensation.
Further, the AAI also requested the State government to grant rights for the construction of a new terminal at the Chennai airport and that 90 acres (where a school and colony exist) be given for the cargo complex, as per the minutes of the Steering Committee meeting held for awarding the in-principle approval. The businessline has seen a copy of the minutes.
The State government has agreed to the compensation condition set by the AAI, records show. The Civil Aviation Secretary stated that the development of both airports—Chennai and Parandur—should be supported by the State government to meet the growing demand for aviation connectivity in the region.
The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority said that the proposed planned passenger capacity in different phases needs to be reworked. It also urged the State government to optimise the proposed aeronautical infrastructure.
For phase I of the project, the State government should aspire for 100 per cent land being acquired, and shall ensure that at least 90 per cent of land be acquired on the date of the award, the minutes said.
The State government informed that, due to the presence of water bodies at the site, a high-level steering committee had been formed to study various aspects related to water bodies and channels to address potential future challenges like waterlogging and flooding in the aerodrome vicinity.
An investment of ₹20,000 crore is being planned to develop a greenfield airport at Parandur, which would annually handle 10 crore people; it will have two runways, terminal buildings, taxiways, an apron, and a cargo terminal.
The Chennai airport handles around 2.2 crore people annually. After the ongoing modernisation work, it can handle 3.5 crore people a year for the next seven years.
The Ministry of Defence had also granted No Objection to the grant of site clearance.