Revenue Department proposes to acquire additional 24.15 acres for Coimbatore airport expansion 

The Revenue Department proposes to acquire 24.15 acres in addition to the initially fixed 627.89 acres for expansion of the Coimbatore International Airport, according to officials.

Of the 24.15 acres proposed to be acquired further, the Airport Authority of India has been using 6.93 acres under lease since 1984. The remaining 17.22 acres is Defence land that is meant to construct a road linking the proposed new airport terminal to the Salem – Kochi Highway (L&T bypass).

Official sources in the know of the development said the Revenue Department was waiting for administrative sanction from the State government for the 24.15 acres.

The 627.89 acres identified for acquisition in the initial stage included 461.90 acres of patta land, 137.62 acres of Defence land and 28.37 acres of poramboke land.

The State government has already acquired the entire 137.62 acres of Defence land for the airport expansion for which 197.01 acres was provided as alternative land at Kadambadi in Kanchipuram district, Revenue officials said.

Out of the 461.90 acres of patta land, 405.15 acres has been acquired under Section 7 (2) of the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purpose Act, 1997 by paying the compensation fixed by the government -- ₹1,500 per sq.ft for residential areas and ₹900 per sq.ft for agricultural plots.

Of the remaining 56.75 acres, 12.80 acres are categorised as roads. The Revenue Department is in the process of acquiring the remaining 43.95 acres, out of which 6.26 acres belong to 45 land owners who have not accepted the compensation fixed by the government.

The Revenue Department has decided to pay the government fixed compensation for the 6.26 acres to the First Additional Sub-Court, Coimbatore, to acquire the area under Section 7 (3) of the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purpose Act.

The Revenue Department is in the process of acquiring the remaining 37.69 acres from 156 land owners by paying the already fixed compensation [Section 7 (2)].

Out of the total sum of ₹ 2,091.27 crore required for the total land acquisition, the State government has allotted ₹ 1,924.77 crore. It has disbursed ₹ 1,756.78 crore as compensation to land owners until recently.

The Revenue Department is planning to disburse the remaining compensation of ₹ 167.99 crore in the coming weeks and complete the entire process by the end of September.