CII highlights role of airports for Tamil Nadu to achieve $1.5 trillion economic target

C. Devarajan, President, Confederation of Indian Industry, Tamil Nadu State Council. | Photo credit: M. PERIASAMY

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

During an interaction at the Hindu office, he said that CII has proposed an investment of ₹10,000 crore to increase passenger handling at the Chennai International Airport.

In addition to the ongoing expansion of Terminals 2 and 3 by Larsen and Toubro, CII has pushed for an expansion project involving an expenditure of ₹5,000 million to set up Terminal 5 and ₹3,000 million to lay a subway line connecting the new terminal to the existing airport facilities and to the Metro Rail network in Sweden and Arholm Chicago Airport, similar to the models at Arholm Airport (O’Hare Airport).

Also, development of airports at other convenient locations in the state will help reduce passenger load at the Chennai International Airport, the CII chairman said.

Ahead of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s attendance at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland in January 2027, the CII highlights the need to focus on 15 key verticals, including infrastructure, real estate, semiconductors and electronics, as the way forward to achieve the $1 trillion target by 2036.31 trillion and

Achieving the goal is possible provided the desired thrust is aligned with a renewed sense of purpose, Mr. Devarajan pointed out.

Published – 11 Nov 2026 21:40 IST