No land, so Chennai airport can’t be expanded like Delhi’s, build new: Centre

Pranab Dhal Samanta

Posted online: Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 0000 hrs IST

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13
The Civil Aviation Ministry has made it clear to Tamil Nadu government that restructuring of Chennai airport on the lines of the ones in Delhi and Mumbai is not possible with the available land and that the state must look at setting up a new greenfield airport there.

This has been conveyed to the top DMK leaders after the Karunanidhi government could not give a commitment to acquire 583 hectares occupied by slums around the Chennai airport. Given that such a promise could snowball into a political controversy, the only option now left for the state is to draw up a plan for a brand new airport, as in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The other option is to have a new terminal complex and convert the current one into a low-cost terminal. This, however, does not assure space for additional runways and taxiways, which is where the real expansion would be needed in the years ahead. With Kolkata opting out of the model followed in Delhi and Mumbai, a limited expansion just for Chennai may not be enough to attract world-class players.

DMK leaders, especially Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, have been lobbying hard with the Centre to upgrade and modernise the Chennai airport in the footsteps of Delhi and Mumbai. The Committee on Infrastructure had, in fact, given an in-principle nod to proceed on these lines for both Kolkata and Chennai. But initially, there was delay after the Left objected to Kolkata airport being pushed in this direction and then, the issue of clearing slums around Chennai airport that the DMK government is now finding difficult to do.

Also, having encountered strong Left opposition to the modenisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports, the Civil Aviation Ministry is keen to steer clear of any controversy in the case of Chennai. Given that the Left and DMK have come together in the past on the partial divestment of Neyveli Lignite, sources said, the DMK can help offset Left pressure against the restructuring of Chennai airport. It may, however, be noted that Left is not against greenfield airports which clearly makes the new option that much more attractive. The ball in now in Tamil Nadu government’s court.

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