Tamil Nadu’s 25-year search for a second airport for Chennai has come full circle. Four years after selecting Parandur and beginning land acquisition, the state government has decided to identify an alternative site, effectively putting the project on hold. The move has revived familiar questions: Why does Chennai need a second airport? Why did earlier proposals fail? How was Parandur chosen? And why did it run into such sustained opposition? Here’s a look at the long and complicated journey of the project.
Timeline
1999: Tamil Nadu begins searching for a site for Chennai’s second airport.
2007: Government approves a site near Sriperumbudur, but the project did not move forward.
2013: The new land acquisition law significantly raises compensation and rehabilitation costs.
2021: Tamil Nadu identifies four potential locations.
2022: The Ministry of Civil Aviation shortlists Parandur and the project receives key approvals.
2022: The state announces plans to acquire land.
2022 onwards: Villagers begin protests against the project.
2026: The government announces it will identify an alternative site.
Why does Chennai need a second airport?
The government argues that Chennai will require additional airport capacity as passenger and cargo traffic continue to grow. Tamil Nadu’s automobile, electronics, semiconductor, textile and leather industries depend heavily on air connectivity for business travel and exports. Industry bodies say expanding airport infrastructure will be crucial for sustaining growth and attracting future investment.
How long has Tamil Nadu been searching for a second airport?
The search began in 1999. Since then, successive governments have examined several locations, but none has progressed to the construction stage.
Why did earlier proposals fail?
Sites near Tambaram, Maraimalai Nagar and Sriperumbudur were considered but dropped because of technical, financial or land acquisition challenges. The project came closest to fruition in 2007 when a 4,000-acre site near Sriperumbudur was approved. However, the government owned only about 800 acres, making extensive land acquisition unavoidable. The proposal became even more difficult after the 2013 Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act increased compensation and rehabilitation requirements, and it was eventually shelved.
How was Parandur chosen?
After the Sriperumbudur proposal was dropped, the state shortlisted Tiruporur, Parandur, Pannur and Padalam. The Ministry of Civil Aviation narrowed the choice to Parandur and neighbouring Pannur after assessing technical and operational requirements. Both sites were close to the Sriperumbudur-Sunguvarchatiram industrial belt along the Chennai-Bengaluru corridor. Parandur was eventually selected and received in-principle approval from the Centre and techno-economic clearance from the Airports Authority of India.
What was planned at Parandur?
The proposed airport was among Tamil Nadu’s largest planned infrastructure projects. A pre-feasibility report prepared by Louis Berger International for TIDCO estimated the cost at about ₹29,143 crore, with construction planned in four phases. The first phase alone was expected to cost ₹13,854 crore. The state proposed acquiring around 5,746 acres across 13 villages, while several road, Metro and logistics projects were planned alongside the airport.
Why did residents oppose the project?
Residents maintained that their opposition was driven less by compensation than by displacement. They argued that the airport would require entire villages to be relocated, affect fertile agricultural land capable of producing three crops annually and impact several water bodies. The protests continued for more than 1,000 days.
Why was Ekanapuram at the centre of the protests?
Ekanapuram, home to about 2,500 people, lay directly on the proposed runway alignment. Unlike some neighbouring villages, the settlement itself would have to be relocated. For residents, the issue was not merely the loss of farmland but the disappearance of homes, livelihoods and an entire community, making Ekanapuram the focal point of the agitation.
What compensation and rehabilitation were offered?
The state offered compensation at 3.5 times the market value of the land and promised displaced families 285 sq ft resettlement houses.
How did Joseph Vijay change the course of the project?
The local land acquisition dispute acquired political significance after TVK leader C Joseph Vijay made the Parandur airport issue his first major field protest after entering politics. While supporting the need for a second airport, he backed the villagers’ demand that it be shifted elsewhere and made relocation of the project an election promise. After TVK came to power, that commitment became government policy. Energy Resources and Law Minister C T R Nirmal Kumar subsequently announced that the government would identify an alternative site.
Has the Parandur project been cancelled?
No. The government has not formally cancelled the project. However, its decision to look for another location has effectively put land acquisition and project planning on hold.
Why couldn’t the airport be redesigned?
Officials say alternatives were explored to avoid relocating residential areas, but there was little flexibility in altering the runway alignment. Flight operations also had to account for the nearby INS Rajali naval air station at Arakkonam and airspace restrictions around the Kalpakkam nuclear facility.
What happens to the projects planned around Parandur?
The uncertainty extends well beyond the airport itself. TIDCO had planned a 150-acre air freight village, while road studies identified widening the Pallur-Sogandi Road and constructing a new 30.7-km link to the Oragadam-Cheyyar Industrial Corridor. Chennai Metro Rail had also commissioned a DPR for a 43.63-km Metro line from Poonamallee to Parandur via Thirumazhisai and Sriperumbudur. All these projects were designed around a fixed airport location that is now uncertain.
An airport official said the Union Civil Aviation Ministry also has a significant stake in the project and has asked the state government to reconsider shifting the airport.
What do industry and experts say?
Industry bodies have consistently supported expanding Chennai’s airport capacity while largely avoiding a position on Parandur itself. CII has linked additional airport infrastructure to Tamil Nadu’s ambition of becoming a $1.5 trillion economy over the next decade, while saying it would support whichever location the government ultimately chooses.
Former bureaucrat Phanindra Reddy argues that shifting the airport may not eliminate the underlying challenges. Any greenfield airport, he says, will still face issues relating to land acquisition, environmental clearances and rehabilitation. Repeated changes in location, he warns, could also affect investor confidence.
Will another site be any easier?
Tamil Nadu’s experience suggests otherwise. Any alternative location will still have to meet the same basic requirements: a large contiguous land parcel, minimal displacement, environmental approvals and efficient road and rail connectivity.
What happens next?
The government says it is identifying an alternative site but has not indicated where it will be. The challenge now is not only to find a suitable location, but also to carry the project through the lengthy approval process while sustaining political and public support.