CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has finalised a site for the proposed Hosur airport, 15.5 km from the Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Limited (TAAL) airstrip, east of Hosur city in Shoolagiri taluk, between Berigai and Bagalur.
A recent Obstacle Limitation Surfaces survey found only 75 obstacles at the site, compared to nearly 350 at the location closer to TAAL, which is hilly and cut by high-tension lines, sources told The Hindu.
The chosen site also lies near the proposed Bengaluru Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR) being built by NHAI, which will boost Hosur’s access to Bengaluru and neighbouring towns. It is 19 km from Attibele, Karnataka’s entry point from Hosur, a source told Deccan Herald. The development comes at a time when Karnataka is shortlisting three sites for Bengaluru’s second airport.
With the site for the Hosur airport selected, the next step is regulatory approvals. Tamil Nadu will seek Civil Aviation Ministry clearance within two weeks, while the Krishnagiri District Collector prepares a land acquisition plan in six weeks. Nearly 2,300 acres of land would be required for the project, The Hindu reported. The State has also written to the Defence Ministry seeking controlled airspace.
A further hurdle will be clearance from Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL). Its concessionaire agreement with the Civil Aviation Ministry bars new international airports within 150 km of Bengaluru until 2033. Even so, the Hosur facility could take around eight years to develop, as per earlier media reports.
Announced by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin last year, the Hosur airport is designed to handle 30 million passengers annually, compared to Chennai airport’s 22 million in 2023. Hosur is a manufacturing hub with 500 large industries and 3,000 MSMEs across sectors including automobiles and electronics.