The expansion of the Coimbatore International Airport, which has been pending for more than two decades, is all set to take off as the Tamil Nadu government has decided to hand over the land acquired for the project to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) unconditionally.
According to sources, the State government has decided to hand over the acquired patta and government poramboke land to AAI free of cost, without any conditions, on a 99-year lease. However, in the event of the privatisation of the airport, it has requested the Centre to consider sharing the revenue with the State.
In 2010, a Government Order was issued for the expansion of the Coimbatore airport. Subsequently, around 600 acres were identified for acquisition, including 468.83 acres of private land. The acquisition process saw several challenges over the years. The State government has been allocating funds since 2018, and has provided ₹2,088.91 crore for land acquisition so far.
Last week, Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati said that nearly 97% of the land had been acquired, and the entire process will be completed in two weeks.
On Tuesday, the BJP MLA from Coimbatore South, Vanathi Srinivasan, thanked Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for handing over the land to AAI unconditionally.
Coimbatore MP Ganapathi P. Rajkumar said that the Chief Minister took steps to sort out the contentious issues, and that the expansion of the airport would benefit the entire western region. “I had explained its importance to the Chief Minister and the Ministers concerned and it was taken well. This is one of the many steps by the Chief Minister for Coimbatore’s development,” he said.
Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai told The Hindu that the Centre had pointed out in Parliament that the delay in the expansion of the airport was only due to the failure to hand over land. The Coimbatore South MLA had raised the issue repeatedly in the Assembly, and the expansion of the airport was among the BJP’s poll promises, he added. “Now, the party will move fast so that Coimbatore is able to receive bigger aircraft and is covered under codeshare agreements,” he said.
R. Nandini, chairperson of the CII-Southern Region, said that it was “great news” for Coimbatore. The airport would cater to the needs of Salem, Karur, Tiruppur, Erode and the Nilgiris, too. IT spaces would become attractive to companies; industries could get delegates arriving for one-day meetings; and the region’s industrialists would be able to travel to any city in the country, she said. “We thank the State government for pulling off an acquisition of this size,” she added.
