MoU Signed for Defence Land Transfer, Tiruchi Airport Expansion Nears Completion

In a major move for the development of Tiruchi International Airport, the Tamil Nadu government has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Defence to hand over about 167 acres of Defence land for the project.

The pact is a major milestone in the much-awaited proposal to extend the runway and overall infrastructure of the airport. Airport Director S. Gnaneswara Rao confirmed that the MoU was signed earlier this month and that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been granted “enter-upon permission.” A boundary wall will be constructed soon, with survey work already underway.

The land transfer is one component of a comprehensive expansion plan that was initially proposed over a decade ago. After the first runway extension from 6,000 to 8,000 feet during 2010-11, AAI requested another extension to 12,000 feet to accommodate wider, larger aircraft. For this, AAI had requested about 500 acres of land, including the 167 acres belonging to the Defence Ministry.

Tiruchi MP and Airport Advisory Committee Chairman Durai Vaiko stated that 99% of the required land acquisition has been completed by the State government. “Only three more hectares remain to be acquired for the runway extension. This will be completed shortly,” he said. He added that the Defence Ministry will receive an equivalent parcel of land in exchange.

Apart from the Defence land, a small portion of government-owned land is still awaiting formal alienation. Once the boundary wall is in place, preparations for the actual expansion work will begin.

The airport is already undergoing infrastructure upgrades. A new terminal was commissioned last year, and a modern Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower is currently under construction at a cost of ₹60 crore. The ATC tower is expected to be fully operational by December.

With the land transfer MoU now secured and nearly all acquisition hurdles cleared, the long-pending runway expansion project appears finally ready for takeoff.