Tamil Nadu Government Plans To Submit Tender Papers For Parandur Airport Project To Centre By March: Report

The Tamil Nadu government is preparing to take the next formal step towards building the proposed greenfield airport at Parandur near Chennai, with plans to submit the project’s tender documents to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) by March, according to a report by The Hindu.

Work on the tender paperwork is nearing completion, with only a few components still being finalised.

These are expected to be resolved by February, paving the way for the documents to be forwarded to the Centre the following month. The State is likely to invite bids for the Rs 27,400 crore project only after the Assembly election process concludes.

When the Union Ministry granted in-principle approval to the airport in April last year, it had made clear that all tender-related documents must be vetted before the bidding stage.

“Concession agreement, RFP [Request for Proposal] and other documents related to PPP to be shared with the MoCA for consideration before issuing tender, wherein concessions or clauses pertaining to the GoI be highlighted,” the Union government’s high-level committee had said at the time.

A source quoted in the report said, “The MoCA is likely to take two to three months to vet the tender and other documents. By the time it sends them back, the election process will be over. After the Model Code of Conduct is lifted, we will issue the tender.”

Parallel to this, the State government is also working to complete the remaining statutory requirements for environmental clearance.

While most surveys and studies mandated by the Expert Appraisal Committee have been completed, the social impact assessment is still pending.

Data collection from Ekanapuram village, where part of the project site is located, is expected to resume after the elections.

So far, around 1,650 acres have been acquired for the airport. The project will span 5,746.18 acres in total, comprising 3,774.01 acres of patta land and 1,972.17 acres of government land, in Kancheepuram district.

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