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 cleared the decks for the expansion of the Airport.
The project had been a bone of contention between Tamil Nadu and the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre for more than 14 years owing to a dispute over the land acquisition process.
However, the state’s DMK government has now reversed its stand and agreed to hand over more than 600 acres of land required for the airport’s expansion to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) without any conditions. In a major U-turn on its previous policy of not allowing sub-leasing of land to the private sector, the state government has given the land free of charge on a 99-year lease without any sub-leasing restrictions.
Political commentators said the DMK had made a calculated political decision aimed at increasing its influence in the state’s western region, once the bastion of the AIADMK.
“We cannot ignore that the BJP and AIADMK have been fighting vigorously to retain their spaces in the western region of Tamil Nadu,” said Raveendran Duraisamy, a political commentator. “At the same time, the DMK is trying to maintain a smooth Centre and state relationship to attain its political goals in the state.”
The ambitious Coimbatore airport expansion plan first hit the skids when the DMK came back to power after a gap of 10 years in 2021. The state government then decided it would not transfer land ownership to the AAI but would give it on lease with some conditions.
The most contentious condition was that if the Centre handed over the airport to private players, lease payments to Tamil Nadu would be increased to reflect the market value of the land. But in the aftermath of the Lok Sabha polls, the DMK has decided to bury the hatchet on the Coimbatore International Airport expansion project.
A senior state cabinet minister, who did not want to be identified, said the Tamil Nadu government had not compromised and the idea of expanding the Coimbatore airport was actually initiated during the previous DMK regime.
“It cannot be termed as a compromise on state rights, but a relaxation to bring in development projects that will eventually benefit the people of the state,” the minister said.
In 2010, the DMK-led state government issued an order for the airport’s expansion and about 600 acres of land were identified for acquisition. However, the process of acquiring land and allocation of funds only began in 2018 under the AIADMK government.
After years of talks with land owners and other stakeholders about the land acquisition, the issue was finally settled last month.
On 23 August, the district administration gave permission to AAI to use the land.
“We have done our part and now it is for the Union government to react,” said DMK MP from Coimbatore Ganapathy P. Rajkumar.
The airport project will be a win-win for both the DMK and BJP.
With the state assembly election due in 2026, the DMK, AIADMK and BJP want to strengthen their position in the western region of Tamil Nadu.
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