"The Ministry of Civil Aviation is actively pursuing the development of six 'Twin City' airports by 2030 as part of its strategy to alleviate congestion in existing major city airports and meet the growing demand for air travel. This initiative aims to expand airport infrastructure and improve connectivity.
Currently, the 'Twin City' airport project is underway in the Delhi-National Capital Region. The Noida International Airport at Jewar (Greater Noida) is being developed to complement the existing Delhi International Airport. Additionally, the D B Patil International Airport in Navi Mumbai is set to complement the Mumbai International Airport, and the recently operationalised Manohar International Airport is complementing Dabolim Airport in Goa.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has received proposals from several states, including Tamil Nadu, expressing interest in establishing new greenfield airports alongside existing ones in their major cities. Joyanta Chakraborty, Director at the Ministry of Civil Aviation, stated that Tamil Nadu's TIDCO has approached the ministry for the development of a new greenfield airport. Similar to the Twin City airports in Delhi and Mumbai, the ministry envisions the creation of six such twin city airports by 2030, 15 by 2040, and potentially 30 or more by 2047 to meet the increasing demand for air travel.
General V K Singh (Retd), Minister of State for Civil Aviation, confirmed in a parliamentary reply that Tamil Nadu has applied for site clearance to develop a greenfield airport at Parandur in the Kancheepuram District, located approximately 60 KM from Chennai International Airport. The proposal has been shared with the Airports Authority of India, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and a steering committee on greenfield airports led by the Ministry of Civil Aviation's secretary will be evaluating it.
In response to the surging demand for both domestic and international flights, major airports across India are undergoing expansion efforts to increase their capacity. Chakraborty emphasised at a roundtable conference that these expansions will enable Indian airports to accommodate up to 500 million passengers annually by the end of the current financial year.
