Tamil Nadu scraps Parandur airport project, raising concerns over economic growth and infrastructure

Tamil Nadu, a $400 billion-plus economy with more than 10% annual growth, lacks an airport that matches its economic scale. Chennai’s Meenambakkam airport handled 23 million passengers in FY26, well below Bengaluru and Hyderabad, while the state’s other airports also lack the capacity to meet growing demand.

The state with the second highest GSDP in the country at over $400 billion. An annual growth rate topping 10%. A region where growth is distributed and not concentrated in one geography. Human Development Index scores that recognise it as the second best performing state in India, with high enrolment ratio and high life expectancy.

Tamil Nadu clearly has a lot going for it.

But it is sorely lacking one thing-it simply does not have an airport befitting its stature. Chennai's Meenambakkam airport is its biggest, but that falls significantly behind global standards. Coimbatore, Madurai, Thoothukudi and Tiruchirappalli are other key airports but none has the stature or the capacity to serve the state's needs in 2026.

The new greenfield airport at Parandur near Chennai was supposed to be the answer to Bengaluru, Hyderabad and even Kochi, airports that have rode the wave of privatisation to become significant regional heavyweights.

But that project has now been scrapped, to fulfil a campaign promise made by the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK). In doing so, the state government may have plunged Tamil Nadu's aviation future into uncertainty. Without a large-scale second airport executed in double-quick time, the state risks losing vital trade, cargo, and investment to regional rivals, while stranding its $400 billion economy behind outdated infrastructure and land acquisition delays.

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LOOK MAA, NO SECOND AIRPORT

On January 20 last year, TVK chief C Joseph Vijay began his first political outing after formally launching his party in October 2024 by meeting villagers protesting against the proposed greenfield airport in Parandur. He made it clear that he was not against a new airport in Chennai but was only opposing acquiring fertile farmland for the project. This was one of his main electoral promises.

"I am not against the project. What I am opposing is building an airport by destroying farmland," he said.

Cut to August 24, 2026. Vijay, as the new chief minister, keeps his word. In his signature black trousers and crisp white shirt, he addressed the assembly, "To fulfil the promise I made to the people... the steps taken to establish a new airport in Parandur will be abandoned by this government."

What has followed is a political slugfest. The arguments revolve around what the impact of this move could be on Tamil Nadu's long-term industrial growth and its competitive standing with neighbouring states, and general investor confidence. Questions also arise on what a delay in chalking out alternative sites and restarting the land acquisition process could mean.

The Parandur project, estimated at around ₹27,400 crore, was planned on over 5,000 acres, including around 3,000 acres of agricultural land. It was expected to eventually handle up to 100 million passengers annually.

ALTERNATIVE SITES

The need for a second airport is disputed by no one as the current airport in Meenambakkam is bursting at the seams. But was scrapping Parandur a good idea?

"It's a bad decision," says a senior government official who did not wish to be named. "Parandur was selected after a great deal of deliberation-all the concerns around environment and displacement were looked into. They are halfway through land acquisition. Tamil Nadu has enough experience of this kind of mess."

He is referring to the land acquisition for the 1,600 MW Jayankondam integrated lignite mining and power generation plant. After acquiring 3,390 hectares of land about 25 years back, the state returned the land to former owners in 2022, without taking back the compensation paid to them.

There are issues even with the alternative airport sites suggested by the government.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is reportedly studying the feasibility of building a second airport in Manalur in Gummidipoondi and Cheyyur, which are located close to ISRO's launch facilities in Sriharikota, and the atomic power station in Kalpakkam, respectively.

"We respect the government's concern for farmers and water bodies. But every year of delay is a year of lost investment," says Ravichandran Purushothaman, president, Danfoss India, and chairperson, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region. "The industry does not need a debate on sites. It needs a decision with a deadline."

CARGO GOING GONE

It has been a long wait. Purushothaman says, "Capital city airports are like economic growth engines for trade and a gateway for tourism. It's Chennai's bad luck that we missed a second airport for two decades. Chennai handled 23 million passengers in FY2026. Bengaluru handled 44 million and Hyderabad 30 million. Tamil Nadu will need an airport with a capacity of 80-100 million passengers a year. You cannot build that on a 1,300 acre city site."

Cargo makes the case even stronger. Chennai handled over 4.2 lakh tonnes of cargo in CY2025, up 11%. In international cargo, Chennai overtook Bengaluru to come in third place H1FY26. That growth is driven by electronics, auto components and engineering exports.

"Tamil Nadu is India's largest electronics exporter, and a single iPhone shipment can't wait on a congested runway," says Purushothaman, adding that the new airport must be an export-import hub.

J Krishnan, former president of Air Cargo Agents Association of India, says Chennai is at least a decade behind other major southern cities in terms of air services and the state could fall behind another 10-12 years with the decision to scrap Parandur. "There's absolute uncertainty," he says. "Now we are back to identifying a site." Krishnan says at least two runways are needed, which would mean 5,000-7,000 acres of land. That land acquisition, even in new sites, will be a problem.

"Getting 5,000 acres of land near Chennai is going to be a tall order. Any land selection will have social unrest, engineered or real," says Krishnan. "The previous government thought money was going to solve the problem in Parandur but it did not. It's a very complex issue and the TVK will have to start thinking out of the box because other states are moving fast."

CII's Purushothaman agrees that in India, land acquisition is the single biggest bottleneck. "Many airports that need expansion like Coimbatore and Madurai have taken years to get to the point of finalising land to expand runways. Even the Navi Mumbai Airport was conceived in the late 1990s, but acquiring 1,160+ hectares and rehabilitating over 5,000 families took more than two decades," he says.

Many across political parties have expressed concern. TRB Rajaa, former industries minister, says it is "unfortunate" that an "uninformed political position" taken before coming to power has led to the project being abandoned. "A political mistake made by backing a protest should not become Tamil Nadu's biggest economic mistake in its history," he told ET. "One person's political calculations based on misinformation cannot be allowed to push an entire state back by several years. Tamil Nadu needs continuity in infrastructure, not a mindless reset."

He says the Parandur project was designed to support Chennai's next phase of industrial, logistics and employment growth. "Cheyyur and Manalur are highly unlikely to be alternatives, but even if they are, they have not yet gone through the full technical and regulatory process, so it is premature to call them better options," he adds.

Former state BJP chief K Annamalai too has been vocal against the move. "This announcement of the cancellation of the new airport project carries an opportunity cost that the state government needs to consider carefully," he posted on X. He added that Chennai airport ranks fifth in total passenger-handling capacity, with 30 million passengers a year. Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are above Chennai. "The present Chennai airport is not classified as a Code F airport due to inadequate taxiways and aerobridges, which make landing large aircraft such as the A380 unsuitable at Chennai," he added.

WHAT NEXT?

Where does all this leave Parandur? While the government has cancelled the airport project, industries minister S Keerthana told the assembly recently that the 1,802 acres which have been acquired could be used for setting up ecofriendly industries to create jobs. She defended the decision to cancel the project by saying that much of the land is agriculturally productive and that the network of water channels in the region play an important role in protecting Chennai from floods.

Law minister CTR Nirmal Kumar said in the assembly that only 48% of the land required for the project had been acquired, rejecting former DMK minister Thangam Thennarasu's claim that 90% of the land, including government and private land, had been acquired.

While opposition parties and ally CPM want the TVK government to return the land that is not being used for airport to farmers, there is no response from the government on that.

Parandur is divided. While some cheer the government's decision, those who sold their land wonder what will become of the compensation they have received. Their town that was meant to fly cannot even take off.