ABANDONING PARANDUR: LAND, WATER AND GOVERNANCE IN THE CANCELLATION OF CHENNAI'S SECOND GREENFIELD AIRPORT

Abstract

On 24 August 2026, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu told the Legislative Assembly that the State would abandon the proposed greenfield airport at Parandur. The project had been selected in 2022, cleared by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation in stages, and resisted for more than 1,000 days by farmers in Ekanapuram and neighbouring villages. This article reviews the decision as a case study in infrastructure governance. It sets out the project's history and approvals, examines the land acquisition framework and the environmental and water-body concerns that drove the dispute, and assesses the legality and wisdom of the cancellation. It considers the executive's power to reverse policy, the federal division of aviation approvals, and the unresolved questions of compensation and acquired land. It argues that the decision vindicates the participatory and ecological principles that Indian land law has developed, but that it will count as good governance only if the State handles site selection, restitution and capacity planning transparently from here.