Date:31.08.

2015

PMK Founder Dr. S. Ramadoss Statement

EXPEDITE SRIPERUMBUDUR
AIRPORT CONSTRUCTION WORK
The importance of Chennai as a major airport in international airways map is ever increasing. The
number of air travellers using Chennai airport is also increasing significantly. It is sad that the
construction of the second airport for Chennai to meet out this increasing demand is not taking off.
Chennai Meenambakkam airport is built in 1152 acres of land. The number of passengers using this
airport was 50 lakhs in the year 2005. It has trebled in the last 9 years to reach 1.43 crores passengers.
Considering that it would increase further in the future, a second airport was proposed at
Sriperumbudur. 17 years after the proposal no work other than marking the land for the proposed
airport construction has been done.
The Sriperumbudur airport is to be constructed in 5000 acres of land at a cost of Rs. 20,000 crores.
Vast land of 7 kilometres length and 4 kilometres width with an area of 7000 acres has been identified
for the proposed airport construction. The feasibility study has also been completed. Airports Authority
of India has declared Sriperumbudur as the ideal location for the new airport. It is not clear why after
such elaborate studies construction of new airport has not commenced. On 29.06.2013, a meeting
conducted by the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh on infrastructure development
pronounced that the construction of Sriperumbudur airport will commence within a year. Two years
after that meeting there is no sign of commencement of work on the airport.
The Hyderabad and Bangalore green airports which were also envisaged at the same time as
Sriperumbudur airport, had been completed and opened as early as 2008. But here work has not
even started. It is said that the major reason for non-commencement of work is the lethargy of the
Tamil Nadu state government. The State government should submit an application requesting for
commencement of work. Tamil Nadu government has not submitted this application yet. The Tamil
Nadu government which is conducting a global investors meet to attract investments and claiming to
execute Vision-2023 development programs is not paying any attention to this important infrastructure

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development project. This is highly condemnable. Sriperumbudur had become a major industrial hub
and an airport nearby will be big a boost for the development of the area. Since the Sriperumbudur
Special Economy Zone, leather industrial clusters of Vellore district and SIPCOT and other industrial
estates of Hosur are located along the Chennai Bangalore industrial corridor there is strong need for
this airport.
As part of expansion project two new terminal buildings have been constructed on both sides of the
old terminals at Chennai Meenambakkam airport. The additional passenger handling capacity created
is 1.4 crores making the present capacity as 3 crores passengers per year. This capacity will reach the
saturation level by the year 2019-20. Since it is not feasible to expand the present airport beyond this
capacity a new airport construction must be completed before 2020. Since it will takes years to construct
a new airport, construction should be commenced at the earliest. Hence the State and Central
governments should take urgent measures to start the construction.
The Central Government is proposing to construct the airport as a Public Private partnership venture.
This may lead to unnecessary problems in the long run. Hence the Central government should take up
the construction and maintenance of the airport through the Airports Authority of India. Along with
this, express highway and metro rail track to connect the airport to the heart of the city should also
be envisaged and work for them also should commence simultaneously. Above all land acquisition for
airport construction should be handled sensitively ensuring that no land owner is hurt badly.

Yours,

(Dr. S.Ramadoss)