Site clearance for the greenfield Parandur airport was granted based on the recommendations of the Steering Committee comprising representatives from several stakeholder Ministries/Organisations including Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Safety Regulator, said Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol.
In August, 2024, the government of India granted site clearance approval to Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO), for development of greenfield airport at Parandur, about 70 km from Chennai.
The minister was responding to a question raised by Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament P Wilson, who wanted to know whether, as per the opinion of the aviation experts, there are safety issues in the greenfield airport coming up at Parandur in view of the various water bodies present in that area.
Grant of Site Clearance
Prior to the grant of Site Clearance, compliance to comments/observations of stakeholders – DGCA and Airports Authority of India was sought from the Project Proponent. Based on the compliance furnished, the matter was deliberated in the Steering Committee, the minister said.
The proposed airport at Parandur would serve as the second airport near Chennai. Application for grant of ‘In-Principle’ approval has been received from Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation, he said.
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 for the grant of site clearance.
