Plan to modernise Chennai airport

Special Correspondent

State Government also examining option of a greenfield airport




CHENNAI: "The Government has decided to go in for modernisation and expansion of Chennai airport in coordination with the Government of India.

The State Government is also examining the option of establishing a greenfield airport," Transport Minister K.N. Nehru informed the Assembly on Friday.

The Transport department's policy note, which was taken as read by the Minister, stated that through expansion, the State could meet its future requirements without difficulty.

"In the recent past, Chennai has grown as a hub for foreign direct investment in sectors such as manufacturing, automobile, electronic hardware, information technology, services, etc. Such investments are still growing. Apart from this, a large number of foreign investors such as Ford, Hyundai, Saint Gobain, Motorola, Nokia, Dell, Flextronics, Mahindra Renault etc., have made Chennai their production base. Tamil Nadu is also an important destination for foreign tourists. In the recent years, the Chennai airport has recorded significant growth in both passenger traffic and cargo movement."

It was keeping all these in mind that the expansion of the Chennai airport was decided, it said.

On expansion of non-metro airports, the State Government is taking steps to provide land for their expansion and modernisation in Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchi and Tuticorin


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Ramadoss for greenfield airport at Oragadam or Sriperumbudur

Special Correspondent

Says land is available in both areas




CHENNAI: PMK founder S. Ramadoss said here on Thursday that considering the demands of air traffic in Chennai in the coming years, a greenfield airport could be set up at Oragadam or Sriperumbudur, near here, on 5000 acres. Land was available in both areas.

Addressing a press conference, he said the number of domestic passengers in Chennai airport had gone up by 10 per cent in 2006-2007 compared to the previous year, and international passengers by 38 per cent.

The cargo handled was two lakh tonnes, 13 per cent higher than in 2005-2006. In the next five years, demands of air traffic in Chennai are expected to go up further.

The existing airport may not be able to meet the demand.

It had been reported that 800 acres would be made available by acquiring land north of the airport. Even if this expansion were done, at a cost of over Rs.1000 crore, the facility would reach saturation point in seven-eight years.

Hence, the Government should consider whether the existing airport should be expanded or a new airport set up as long-term strategy.

Explaining the added advantages of a greenfield airport, he said the existing airport could also be operated.

No privatisation


The PMK leader, who had earlier opposed takeover of land at Pozhichalur for airport expansion, said be it expansion or creation of new airport, the work should be undertaken only by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). On no account should it be privatised.

The State Government should write to the Centre in this regard.

Stressing the demand, he had already written to the Civil Aviation Minister and the Prime Minister. Following pressure brought on the Centre by the CPI (M) and the CITU, expansion of Kolkata airport had been given to the AAI.

"Huge interest"


Dr. Ramadoss said he had information that "certain forces" were evincing "huge interest" in ensuring that the Chennai airport expansion work was privatised.

He said the airport, which was making profit, should not be privatised.

The Chief Minister should convene an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

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AAI gets nod for work on Kolkata airport upgrade.
Our Bureau


New Delhi April 18: The Kolkata airport upgrade will get under way in the next few months, with the Prime Minister Council of Infrastructure on Wednesday giving the go ahead for Airports Authority of India (AAI) to take up the project.

Briefing newspersons after the meeting, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, said the project, which would be completed in phases, would eventually cost Rs 4,000-5,000 crore.

"The entire project will be taken up by AAI from monies generated through internal resources. No subsidiary or special purpose vehicle will be set up for the project. During the first phase, which is to be completed in 2009-10, the annual handling capacity of the airport would increase from the current 5 million passengers to 20 million passengers. During this phase an investment of Rs 1,500 crore is envisaged including Rs 1,300 crore for development of a new terminal building," Mr Patel said.

Chennai airport: A decision on modernisation of Chennai airport would be taken after the State Government comes back to the Centre with a proposal on making land available.

"The State is expected to revert to the Centre by May 31 with a proposal on making land available. Already about 800 acres have been earmarked but there are some other issues as a connecting corridor is not there. The airport will be upgraded in consultation with the State Government," Mr Patel said.

Mumbai airport: Acknowledging that there was some delay in the ongoing modernisation of Mumbai airport, the Minister said that the Group of Ministers headed by the Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, is to meet here on April 23 to take a decision on unlocking Salt Pan area in Mumbai. The modernisation process has slowed down, as the State Government has been unable to move people from slums around the airport to areas earmarked for them in Salt Pan areas in other parts of the city.

"The delay in Mumbai airport modernisation is mainly because the terms of the State support agreement have not been fulfilled. The State Government has been unable to take action on rehabilitating slum dwellers and this is delaying the process," the Minister said.

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Govt. approves Kolkata airport modernisation plan
New Delhi, April 18 (PTI): The first phase of modernisation of Kolkata airport will be completed in three years, with the Government today giving formal approval to Airports Authority of India to start work on the Rs 1,542 crore project.

On completion of the first phase by 2009-10, the airport would have a new terminal, another runway and sophisticated communication and navigation system (CNS). The revamped airport would be able to handle 20 million passengers compared with five million now.

"The Infrastructure Committee, headed by the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh), today gave its formal approval to the modernisation plan of Kolkata airport. Work will start in the next few months," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters after the Committee meeting here.

"Now, we will move the Public Investment Board to get clearance and then start work," he said.

On modernisation of Chennai airport, Patel said the state government has been given a month's time to clarify its position on the land allotted for expansion of the airport.

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Govt to finalise JV partners for airports update
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 12:42 [IST]
PTI

New Delhi:Carrying forward the process of modernisation of airports, the government today indicated that it will complete the process of selection of joint venture partners for upgrading at least 12 non-metro airports by December.

The issue of modernising 35 airports and the time-table for completing the exercise was discussed at the meeting of Committee of Infrastructure held at Planning Commission under chairmanship of Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

In a presentation before the Committee, the officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry informed that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already appointed UTI Bank and Capital Fortunes Ltd as consultants for the city side development of 12 airports each in the North East region and Western and Southern region respectively.

The government proposes to complete modernisation of all non-metro airports by 2010.

As regards modernisation of metro airport at Chennai, the government is considering to set up a new airport either at Oragadam or Sriperumbudur as it may not be feasible to expand facilities at the existing airport for fear of flooding of Adyar river.

According to sources, the development of a greenfield airport at Oragadam, which is about 40 kilometres from city centre, would involve displacement of 5,500 people. In case the government narrows down to Sriperumbudur, more than 12,000 persons would have to be rehabilitated.


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CII-TN unit wants expansion of Chennai airport

PTI[ TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2007 04:30:25 PM]


CHENNAI: Industry body the Confederation of Indian Industry-Tamil Nadu today sought the expansion of Chennai airport and setting up of satellite townships in the state.

Addressing reporters here today, Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman, CII-Tamil Nadu, said a second runway at the existing airport was necessary.

"Two airports make a lot of sense in the long term. Many countries in the Asian region have two airports. Tokyo has two airports...many others have two airports," he said.

Stressing upon the need for a satellite city he said, "A satellite city is mandatory. Without a satellite city, we cannot address many fundamental programmes." He added that three satellite cities were already emerging without actually creating them. "Old Mahabalipuram Road, Sriperumbudur and Maramalai Nagar have become satellite cities," he said.

While making a presentation on CII's annual plans, Srinivasan said, creating a 20-year vision for competitive and inclusive Tamil Nadu, with skill initiatives, building inclusive cities, promoting inclusive entrepreneurship and celebrating the cultural heritage of the state were some of the key focus areas for the year.

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High-level meets will look into Chennai airport modernisation
Ashwini Phadnis

PM infrastructure panel schedules meeting on April 18





New Delhi April 15 A clear picture on the modernisation of Chennai airport is expected soon, with two high level meetings scheduled to be held here next week to discuss the matter.

Official sources told Business Line that the Prime Minister infrastructure committee meeting that is scheduled to meet here on April 18 would initially consider the proposal.

"The emphasis and focus at the Prime Minister's committee meeting will be on Chennai and Kolkata airport although the meeting has been called to discuss issues connected with the aviation sector as a whole," a senior Government official said.

The matter will also be discussed at a meeting scheduled for April 20 between the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, and the Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and senior officials of Airports Authority of India are also expected to be present at this meeting.

While the West Bengal Government already indicated that it wants the AAI to carry out modernisation of Kolkata airport, a decision is yet to be taken on how Chennai airport should be modernised.

The Tamil Nadu Government has already written to the Centre making available 835 acres of land on both sides of the Adayar River. The State Government is keen to follow the joint venture route for modernising Chennai airport.

The proposed modernisation has also caught the imagination of the private sector with the Tata Group having entered into a strategic alliance with Changi Airports International (CAI) to take up airport projects here, including the proposed modernisation of Chennai and Kolkata airports.

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Airport inside or outside?


With the residents of Pozhichalur up in arms, the expansion plans of the Chennai international airport is getting mired in controversy. Expanding the airport means that close to 1,500 acres of the surrounding areas like Anakaputhur and Pozhichalur (a town which is situated north west of Pallavaram) will be taken over by the government. But the residents want none of it. They want the government to look for a site that would not affect human habitation.


Most of the residents feel that the airport should be expanded in the outer region of the city, say a place like Sriperumbudur. The first advantage would be that traffic congestion will be minimised and the airport can have more modern facilities to handle high volumes of cargo and passenger carriers.

Moreover, it would be close to the IT majors plus in future the area might attract more IT parks and become affluent. Furthermore, heavy cargos can be handled smoothly to create more revenues.

While looking at the negative aspect if the airport is expanded within the city, the vacant land which you get may not be adequate to fit in the airport facilities according to international standards.

Plus the passenger traffic would become more congested and with limited space and handling of floating passengers would be a nightmare. Further, air traffic (landing and take-off ) would be affected due to poor visibility - particularly during rainy and foggy days as there would be more number of residential and high rise flats in the vicinity of the airport.

Now the Tamil Nadu government has assured that it will acquire 700 to 800 acres of land near Chennai airport in order to build an extra runway. But the residents of Anakaputhur and Pozhichalur are dead against the proposal. They say there will be enormous noise pollution which would affect the elderly, plus they fear that if there is any mishap in the functioning of the aircraft it would affect the people living near the place.

“We do not have enough money and I’m a retired government employee; how will I look for a new house and relocate at this age,” asks a resident of Pozhichalur.

The state government has always shown interest in a greenfield airport coming up in Chennai in addition to the existing airport and had short-listed two sites, one at Oragadam village and the other near Sriperumbudur.

As far as the airport officials are concerned, they feel that any modernisation would lead to privatisation. An official at the airport said, “If the airport is going to be modernised and privatised it would affect the public as parking fee will rise, air fares will be hiked, passenger fee and entry ticket will be also be increased. On the other hand, employees working in the airport will be affected further as they will lose all existing benefits by the government.”

But there is no gainsaying the fact that the Chennai airport, with its burgeoning traffic and cargo, needs to be expanded. And the best way to achieve this is to locate the airport at a distance from Chennai city, where there would be scope for easy expansion and handling of the growing traffic.

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What they say An air of uncertainty hangs over airport proposals

City Bureau

Will the metropolis get a greenfield airport or just have a new terminal added to the existing facility?

CHENNAI : Hyderabad and Bangalore will have new greenfield airports, perhaps by 2008. Chennai had a head start over them in becoming an aviation gateway to southern India. More international airlines and flights connect Chennai to the rest of the world, and many of these airlines want to increase their services to the Tamil Nadu capital.

But strangely, Chennai's pitch for comprehensive modernisation and expansion of the existing airport has not taken off. Between the Centre and the State Government, a decision needs to be taken whether the metropolis will have a greenfield airport, or just have a new terminal added to the existing facility near Meenambakkam.

Once that decision is taken, the rest may fall into place. If it is going to be a new airport, it may require about 5,000 acres of land, which becomes a critical and sensitive issue. It may take, at least, three years to get such an airport in place.

As an alternative, if the Governments settle for just another terminal building, the airport needs to be redesigned and upgraded to international standards. Even then, a sizeable extent of land becomes essential to achieve that objective. But land seems to be the toughest challenge ahead for the State Government and the Airports Authority of India.

Depending on the decision, the Centre, that is, the Aviation Ministry and the AAI, will have to decide the model: should it be an AAI project, or go the Delhi or Mumbai way to a private sector- led consortium.

The delay in taking this crucial decision on the future of the Chennai airport may even impact its current position and role in the aviation network — international, regional and domestic. Already, aircraft movement, passenger traffic and cargo handling have shown a steady and significant increase over the years. In 2006-07, the growth in the domestic passenger traffic was 38 per cent (at nearly 58 lakh), while international passenger traffic grew by 6.30 per cent (at almost 27.75 lakh). AAI sources project a 16 per cent growth in international passenger traffic, and a 20 per cent rise in domestic passengers over the next five years.

Going by the latest reports from New Delhi, it appears that the State Government may settle for a new terminal building. That is why it has reportedly identified about 700 to 800 acres of land for the expansion.

Can the existing airport handle this growth? After all, the AAI has been implementing expansion and modernisation projects here in recent years. The Anna International terminal and the Kamaraj domestic terminals were constructed in the1980s.

Airport Director Dinesh Kumar says the present expansion work will help in both passenger and aircraft movement for the next five years. But the expansion requires additional land. As soon as the required land is allocated, the development works can begin.

On the benefits of a greenfield airport, Mr. Dinesh Kumar explains that there are distinct advantages as it can be planned with a futuristic perspective. As far as the AAI is concerned, there are no plans at present to build a new airport. But, a second domestic module was on the drawing board, for which global architects have submitted their designs to the AAI.

As part of improving facilities, the Authority added 20 parking bays last year and another 16 will be added in the current financial year. The bays were used by airlines to park their aircrafts at night. On amenities for the passengers, Mr. Dinesh Kumar says on-line baggage screening system has been introduced. Chennai will be the first airport where the system would be introduced in the country. Similarly, a new slope-type baggage conveyor system will be installed in the international arrival area to replace the flat-type conveyor system.

All these are perhaps interim, adhoc arrangements and improvements.

The question before the State Government is whether a new terminal in the existing airport is adequate to meet the projected demands for at least two or three decades? Will there be enough space then to take up further expansion when required?

Or will it be a better option to go in for a full-fledged Greenfield airport that can cater to the needs of at least 30 years, with enough space for expansion? The answers to these questions may be available very soon.

(With inputs from P. Oppili and Susan Muthalaly)

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What provoked residents to raise the banner of revolt

K. Manikandan




DECEPTIVELY CALM: A view of the Gowl Bazaar area adjoining the airport. — Photo: A. Muralitharan.



CHENNAI : Modernisation or expansion of the Chennai airport has been talked about for a long time. But it was not before March 2006 that residents of Pozhichalur, Gowl Bazaar and Anakaputhur woke up to rude shock and confusion.

And the confusion has lasted a year, with no categorical announcement from the Government on whether their houses would be acquired for the Chennai International Airport Project or not. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority issued a note (U.O. Note No. R1/1363/2006) on February 23, 2006 with a copy of the land plan schedule about the areas covered under the proposed airport restructuring and modernisation. This included re-routing a sizable length of the Adyar river too.

A couple of months earlier, on December 14, 2005, the Transport Department passed a Government Order (GO Ms. No. 91), which said that the Government would hand over 583 hectares of land on the northern side of the existing airport as per the plan received from the Airports Authority of India. Detailed reports appeared in these columns about the number of buildings and extent of land to be taken up for the proposed project. This provoked hundreds of residents to pour out onto the streets, raising objections.

Struggle panel formed

The residents have since come together, organised a series of meetings, got the support of parties, most importantly, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and formed a struggle committee. They have not objected to airport modernisation per se, but have only opposed the land acquisition plan for the project.

Change in plan

The residents have, in their possession, a letter written by the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation to the CMDA in May 2005 about the State Government's proposal on the project and land requirement of about 2,000 acres in Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Tharapakkam, Tandalam, Kovur, Periapanacheri and Gowl Bazaar. "How did the plan change all of a sudden? Who were behind this change in a matter of months, and why has the Government remained adamant on its stand of not initiating a dialogue with the people?'' asks B. Kumar, Struggle Committee secretary. The residents' charge is that the sudden change in plan was only to save a few vested interests They regret that there is no transparency.

They want the Government to stick to the original plan and not to take over land where hundreds of houses have already been built.

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What they say

D. Sudhakara Reddy, Air Passengers Association of India President

One of the major facilities for domestic growth is an airport ... the Government should pursue expansion at the existing airport. This would enable Chennai to have a high quality airport expanded in the shortest time and at a reasonable cost.

The expansion could be undertaken by providing adequate compensation to the residents (of Pammal, Pozhichalur, Anakapathur and Gowl Bazaar) — either through relocation or financially.

Expansion should be preferred, as a greenfield airport would need, at least, 5,000 acres of land. Acquisition of land alone may take three to four years. Thereafter, it will take 5 to 10 years for building the airport and bringing it to operation. The Government would also need to invest heavily on highways and railways link from the airport to the city.

With Bangalore and Hyderabad set to have new airports by 2008, Chennai will lose its primacy as a metro.

B. Kumar, secretary, Struggle Committee

It was baffling to note the change in original plan of airport expansion. Even today the residents have not been clearly told about the change and the reasons behind them.

The work of mobilising people, coordinating, moulding public opinion and putting the agenda before the individual was probably the biggest challenge for the Struggle Committee formed by residents of Gowl Bazaar, Pozhichalur, Pammal and Anakaputhur.

Most of the people who joined the protests were new to struggles, demonstrations, meetings, preparing `maida gum', sticking posters and distributing pamphlets. But once the movement picked momentum, people's spirit could hardly be tied down.

The various forms of protests have resulted from collective decisions . Keeping people together and the cause intact all through these months is a significant achievement.

M. Thiagarajan, Managing Director, Paramount Airways

The Government should bring in various bodies involved such as airline companies, chambers of commerce and a cross-section of business fraternity in Tamil Nadu to have a consensus on how to put this on the fast track... Secondly, some of the smaller airports abroad complement the major airports. For example, the Luton airport supports Heathrow. The concept here is convenience.

Besides helping to de-congest the major airports, the smaller airports also offer easy connecting points to the port of entry. Though they are called secondary airports, the level of comfort and facilities offered is no way inferior. We should also catch up with neighbouring countries like Malaysia where you have an excellent concourse connecting the bays to the main terminal.


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State offers land for expand existing one

New airport: No takeoff

NT Bureau
Chennai, Apr 6:

The plan for a state-of-the-art new airport in Chennai seems to have run aground. Aviation authorities have reportedly decided to shelve the idea to come up with a new airport and are veering around to the view of expanding the existing one in Chennai to meet the increasing demand.

Chennai has fast developed into an industrial hub with several MNCs having set up their firms in and around in quick time. Hence the Civil Aviation Authority felt the need to come up with an airport comprising all the modcons.

Efforts were taken up by the State government to expand the airport by taking over land in Pozhichalur, Kowl Bazaar and Pammal. However several thousand people, residing in these localities, feared that their houses would be razed down and jumped into a protest.

Chief Minister M Karunanidhi chose to put an end to the protests by announcing in the State Assembly that these lands would not be taken over. Instead the State government chose to allot land at Oragadam , Sriperumbudur and Kelambakkam to build a new airport. However the civil aviation authorities were not satisfied with the land allotted for the purpose.

With no proper land identified for the purpose, the expansion plans were unduly delayed. In contrast, at Hyderabad and Bangalore, land was identified much in advance for expansion of airport and the construction works are almost through. They now house all the latest facilities. It was feared that the delay in airport expansion plans in Chennai would result in international flights preferring Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Amidst all this, now reports suggest the State government has made an offer to the Union Civil Aviation Ministry for nearly 700 to 800 acres of land to expand and restructure the Chennai airport.

The offer would be examined by officials to ascertain the feasibility of constructing a second runway at the airport. The sources said the Ministry would take a decision within a week.

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[PART OF REPORT]


Chennai airport expansion soon, says Maran

Our Bureau

Hints at second runway; special groups to look into road congestion

Chennai March 31 The Chennai airport will be expanded soon, the Union Minister for IT and Communications, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, told newspersons.

Mr Maran told reporters on the sidelines of a function here that the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr M. Karunanidhi, had decided that the existing airport would be expanded in such a manner without affecting the neighbourhood.

Mr Maran said this while discussing the infrastructure problems of the city, but said he did not want to divulge more details about the airport plan at this stage.

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