Call to put proposed aviation park in Chennai on fast track

With almost 90 per cent of the total capability in the aviation sector being in the triangle of Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai, it’s time Tamil Nadu sets up an aviation park, said Kota Harinarayana, Dr DS Kothari DRDO Chair, Aeronautical Development Agency.

“Hyderabad has already got an aviation park and Bangalore is in the process of setting up one, which leaves out Chennai, which is known as hub for automobile industry,” he said. Around 50 per cent of the aviation capability is in Bangalore, 20-25 per cent in Hyderabad and the rest in Chennai, at present.

Harinarayana was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 3rd edition of Tamil Nadu Manufacturing Summit - Sustaining manufacturing excellence in Tamil Nadu, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), here.

Plans to set up an aviation park in Chennai were started in 2008, and the facility was expected to be inaugurated in 2012. However, the process was delayed and a draft policy by the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (Tidco) is under the consideration of the current government.

Tidco has identified around 700 acre near the proposed airport in Sriperumbudur, in the suburb of Chennai, and another around 200 acre near Chennai airport, which is expected to facilitate maintenance, repair, operations (MRO) facilities.

The project is expected to attract OEM and component manufacturers from overseas along with helping the Indian companies to develop expertise in the segment. For OEMs, the facility would enable them to source products inside the country and reduce the cost by 20-25 per cent, said Harinarayana.

The total investment expected for the project is around $10 billion, creating 100,000 employment opportunity. The park also would have an SEZ component, which would support the companies planning to set up their facilities in the park, said Venkatesh Chandrasekaran, co-chairman, Tamil Nadu manufacturing and services task force at CII.