CII underlines role of airports for Tamil Nadu to achieve $1.5 trillion economy goal

C. Devarajan, chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry, Tamil Nadu State Council.

In the pursuit of the goal to transform Tamil Nadu into $1.5 trillion economy, airports play a significant role, said C. Devarajan, chairman, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Tamil Nadu State Council, on Wednesday (November 11).

During an interaction at The Hindu office, he said that the CII has mooted an investment of ₹10,000 crore for scaling up passenger-handling at the Chennai International Airport.

Alongside the ongoing expansion of Terminal 2 and 3 by Larsen and Toubro, the CII has advocated for an expansion project entailing an expenditure of ₹5,000 crore to establish Terminal 5 and ₹3,000 crore to lay an underground metro line linking the new terminal with the existing airport facilities and the Metro Rail Network, similar to the models in Sweden (Stockholm Arlanda Airport), and Chicago (O’Hare Airport).

Also, development of airports at other vantage locations in the State will help ease passenger load on the Chennai International Airport, the CII Chairman said.

In the run up to the participation of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay in the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland, in January 2027, the CII is highlighting the need to focus on 15 key verticals, including infrastructure, real estate, semi-conductor and electronics, as the way forward to touch the $1-trillion mark in 2031 and attain the $1.5-trillion target in 2036.

Reaching the target is a possibility, provided the required thrust is accorded with a renewed sense of purpose, Mr. Devarajan pointed out.