Parandur Airport: Central Govt Grants Temporary Environmental Approval
The central and state governments jointly decided to construct a greenfield airport at Parandur of Kanchipuram district at a cost of Rs. 34,000 crore.
Published : January 6, 2026 at 7:03 PM IST
Chennai: In a case seeking to quash the Tamil Nadu government's order for land acquisition for the Parandur airport project, the Chennai High Court has ordered the inclusion of the Central Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Environment as respondents.
To alleviate the congestion at the Chennai airport, the central and state governments jointly decided to construct a greenfield airport at Parandur of Kanchipuram district at a cost of Rs. 34,000 crore. The plan was to make this airport operational by the end of 2030.
This project required approximately 5,746 acres of land from 20 villages, including Parandur, located in the Sriperumbudur taluk of Kanchipuram district. The government decided to acquire 1,972 acres of government land and 3,774 acres of private land. Accordingly, notices regarding land acquisition were duly issued to the concerned parties by the District Special Revenue Officer in March 2024.
Public Interest Litigation Filed
However, three cases were filed in the Chennai High Court seeking to quash these notices and to impose a stay on the land acquisition. Similarly, G Subramanian, the leader of the Parandur Airport Protest Committee, filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the High Court against the government order issued for the construction of the Parandur greenfield airport.
In his petition, he stated that "land is being acquired in the name of a greenfield airport, destroying the livelihoods of the people. The existing Chennai airport can be further expanded."
This petition came up for hearing before a bench of Chennai High Court Chief Justice M.M. Srivastav and Justice Arul Murugan. At that time, senior advocate Raghavachari, appearing for the petitioner, argued, "The Central Ministry of Environment has only granted provisional approval for the construction of the airport in Parandur. According to him, the state government must directly inspect the site and submit a report to the central government stating whether the area comprises forest land or water bodies.
Based on that report, the central government will announce the final decision on whether or not to proceed with the project. The state government has not directly inspected the Parandur airport site. Furthermore, they have not conducted the public consultation meetings that are mandatory before land acquisition. Therefore, the government order issued for the illegal acquisition of land should be quashed.
After hearing these arguments, the judges ordered that seven ministries, including the Central Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Central Ministry of Environment, be added as respondents in the case and adjourned the hearing for a week.
Read more
