CHENNAI: Tucked away almost 60km away from the Chennai International Airport lies Parandur, the site for Chennai's second airport that is devoid of any major infrastructure or connectivity. But the site, which was in competition with Pannur, was selected due to its closeness to Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway.
"Parandur was selected as it was only 7km to 8km away from the upcoming Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway, for which the work is underway. The 262-km-long, six-lane, access-controlled expressway, which begins at Hoskote in Karnataka and ends at Outer Ring Road (ORR) near Chennai could play a major role in the connectivity to the airport," official sources said.
Another major connectivity to the second airport is likely to be the Chennai Metro Rail. The government has recently announced plans to extend Corridor-4, which is from Light House to Poonamallee Bypass to Sriperumbudur. A feasibility study is going to be conducted.
Official sources told TNIE that it was likely that the metro rail connectivity could be extended to Parandur. While the project is likely to take another 10 years to get implemented, the city is likely to expand beyond ORR with the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) planning to open up the land parcels in and around ORR.
A report prepared for the CMDA has suggested large-scale housing, industrial and commercial developments. Official sources said the study was undertaken by keeping in mind that the transit-oriented development concepts across key corridors like in Delhi and Ahmedabad and international models like that of Curitiba, the capital and largest city in the Brazilian state of Paraná, and Portland, the largest and most populous city in the US state of Oregon.
According to the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association (CREDAI), the second airport will give a big push to the aviation sector in Parandur. "It's paramount that connectivity to the airport is well planned and executed in the models of international cities. This should give a fillip to the setting up of ancillary and support industries in the corridor," CREDAI stated. Interestingly, the site is located closer to various industrial parks in Sriperumbudur. This includes the aerospace park.