The second phase of the Chennai airport development works, which was put on hold for the last three years due to airport privatisation plan, will be completed in the next three years, according to Chennai airport director Deepak Shastri. The Airports Authority of India will take up the project, he told newspersons.

When fully developed, the airport will handle annually around 23 million passengers from the present 14 million. “Our plan is to try to push it to 30 million passengers,” he said.

A global consultant will be soon appointed to prepare the design for the works, including developing the old terminal, he told newspersons.

Three years lost “We lost nearly three years due to the privatisation plan of the airport. We need to catch up. Work is expected to start in six months,” he said.

Recently, the Centre decided to suspend the privatisation plan and take up the development works on its own. The government felt that having spent over ₹2,500 crore in the first phase, it does not make sense to give it to the private player. However, once the second phase is also completed, the government may then take a call on the privatisation plan, he said.

An initial outlay of ₹1,000 crore of the total ₹2,300 crore second phase has been allocated for the development work, which also includes expansion of both domestic and international terminals.

Flights rescheduling Shastri said the airport has taken up the resurfacing of the main runway 07/25 with bituminous layers and connecting angular taxi, including associated electrical works, at a cost of ₹41 crore. A stakeholder meeting was held recently and the airlines have been advised to reschedule their flights accordingly.

The period of work on a daily basis will be from 10.30 am to 6.30 pm and beyond the work period the full length of the runway will be available for operations, he said.

Some of the other works to be taken up in the second phase include connectivity tube to metro rail on the city side and provision of travellator, construction of a common user cargo terminal and a multi-level car park, he said.

Getting ready for GIM On preparations for the Global Investors Meet to be held on September 9 and 10, Shastri said that several measures have been initiated to improve the airport’s ambience. With around 4,000 delegates expected to attend the two-day event, additional immigration counters are being provided at international departure to ease passenger congestion at a cost of ₹15 lakh.

Terminal cleaning Renovation of arrival toilets in terminal 1 and security hold toilet in terminal 4 where the maximum footfall exists will be taken up at a cost of ₹25 lakh. Deep cleaning of the entire terminal building terminal 2 and 3 (passenger movement area) will be taken up at a cost of ₹76 lakh, he said.

Further, beautification works at a cost of ₹3.88 crore will be taken up by Poompuhar of the Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation Ltd. The works include decorating with sculptures, arts and paintings.

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