21 hours ago
AAI seeks 17 more acres for airport expansion in Coimbatore
Coimbatore: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has requested the district administration for an additional 17 acres for the city airport expansion project. The district administration said the land acquisition would begin as soon as they received administrative sanction.
Vidya Chandran, district revenue officer (land acquisition for airport), said the district administration had already acquired and handed over 604 acres of the 628 acres requested by the AAI for the airport expansion. Of the remaining land parcels, nine acres is entangled in litigation. The remaining 15 acres is yet to be acquired because of multiple ownership and legal heir issues, she said.
"As and when we acquire and hand over the remaining land to the AAI, the people who own land in Singanallur, Irugur and Neelambur areas will face connectivity issues, as some roads will be disturbed during the land acquisition.
The additional 17 acres will help address the connectivity issues," the officer said.
Pointing out that Chinniyampalayam was a crucial area for the proposed runway extension, city airport director G Sambath Kumar said the land earmarked there was yet to be acquired. "The land acquisition issues are being handled by the state govt."
He said the AAI had finalised an Erode-based private construction firm to set up a precast compound wall around the newly acquired land. The work is expected to commence by the first week of August, he said.
The AAI had floated a tender on March 19, 2025, to construct the precast boundary wall for 16.67km for the newly acquired land at a cost of Rs29 crore, with a deadline to complete the work in 456 days.
