As the State government awaits the site clearance for the second airport at Parandur from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, as a first step, the Ministry of Defence has granted its go ahead and given the ‘No Objection’ for site clearance.
On October 25, this year, the Ministry of Defence gave its nod but it has come with some ‘stipulated conditions’, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation V. K. Singh said.
Responding to a query from Rajya Sabha MP R. Girirajan as to whether the Ministry of Defence had recommended to reconsider the proposed airport at Parandur, Mr. Singh said, on April 11, the Ministry had suggested that the government could take a relook at building the second airport at this site, owing to its proximity to the Tambaram Air Force Station (IAF), Arakkonam (IN) and Chennai airport. They said, having this project at this site may create restrictions to military operations and was also likely to ‘lead to adverse aerospace safety implications’.
He noted that the Ministry had informed Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO) of this, on April 21 and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as well. Following this, AAI and TIDCO sent their comments regarding this issue to the Ministry again.
“The MoD vide its OM dated 25.10.2023 has granted No Objection for grant of Site clearance for setting up of a Greenfield Airport at Parandur, Tamil Nadu, subject to stipulated conditions therein. The same has also been sent to TIDCO on 08.11.2023 for information and compliance,” Mr. Singh said in his response.
The Parandur site was finalised as the location to build a second airport for Chennai city last year at an estimated cost of ₹20,000 crore and subsequently, numerous activities have been in progress to begin the construction work. After TIDCO sent the application for site clearance, they also had answered queries from different agencies to get the required approvals. A high-power committee was constituted to look into environmental concerns and carry out a study which will be submitted shortly. It is to be noted that recently, the administrative sanction for the Parandur airport project too was accorded by the State government.
