Tamil Nadu government to send the tender document for the Parandur airport project to Ministry of Civil Aviation by March

Tamil Nadu plans to submit the Parandur airport tender document to the Ministry of Civil Aviation by March for approval.

The Tamil Nadu government will send the tender document for the construction of the airport at Parandur near Chennai to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) by March and call for bids after the Assembly election, according to sources privy to the development.

When the Union Ministry gave the in-principle approval for the project in April last year, it indicated that the tender document would have to be sent to it before bids were called, the sources said. “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.

The work on the tender document is almost over; only a few aspects have to be worked out. This is likely to be done in February. By March, the State government plans to send the document to the MoCA, another source 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,” the source said.

Around that time, the State government also plans to finish the social impact assessment, the only pending exercise to be completed as part of the process to get environmental clearance for the project. The Expert Appraisal Committee of the Union government directed the State to carry out various surveys and studies, including a social impact assessment. All the mandated surveys and studies have been completed, but for the social impact assessment.

Data have to be collected from Ekanapuram, an exercise that cannot be done now. After the election, the work on the social impact assessment will be completed and submitted to the Union government, the sources said.