More than 300 acres of agricultural land will be acquired for the expansion of the new Vellore airport
The acquired land for airport expansion will be handed over to the Airports Authority of India, which will claim ownership of the acquired land after paying the necessary compensation to the donors. | Photo credit: Special arrangement
The district administration will soon acquire more than 300 acres of agricultural land in four nearby agricultural villages for the expansion of the new airport on the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway (NH 48) in Vellore. Revenue officials began mapping villages as part of identifying land for acquisition.
Revenue department officials, who will be carrying out the mammoth exercise, said that collector PS Leela Alex has instructed to identify at least 300 acres of land for expansion of the new airport. “The district collector has directed us to identify possible land for expansion of the new airport in nearby villages. We have started the process,” a revenue official told The Hindu.
The action by the district administration comes after Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) treasurer and Rajya Sabha MP LK Sudhish met Ms Alex at the Collectorate to discuss spending ₹5 crore under their Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLADS) program in the district.
Mr. Sudhish also said that Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu has requested the State Government for at least another 100 acres of land to expand the new airport in the district. “I also intended to meet Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay and request him to allocate the necessary land required for the expansion of the new airport,” Mr. Sudhish told the press later.
Revenue officials said the nearby villages identified are Poigai, Abdullapuram, Anpoondi and Pudur. Land deeds and land survey numbers will be checked to identify government land, private patta land and government wasteland in these villages.
Revenue officials, including markers and surveyors, will then carry out mapping of the identified lands. This will help them assess the total compensation required for these private lands.
According to the norms, land should only be acquired by the state government for public purposes. The acquired land will be handed over to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which will claim ownership of the acquired land after paying the necessary compensation to the donors. “It will take at least six months to complete the entire land acquisition process. Since the new airport is located on the highway, the proposed expansion will be expedited,” said a revenue official.
Covering an area of over 100 acres, the new airport has an 850-metre runway, a taxiway, ground handling facilities, air traffic control (ATC) and aeronautical information reception facilities, a terminal building and an oil storage facility.
The existing old runway, which could only handle eight-seater aircraft, at the new airport was expanded to handle 20-seater aircraft, which would connect major airports like Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.
Officials said the new airport at Vellore was sanctioned a few years ago under the second phase of UDAN-RCS (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik-Regional Connectivity Scheme) to provide connectivity to smaller towns, especially those closer to metros and tier-two cities.
Apart from Vellore, Thanjavur was another major city in the state to be selected under the program to operate domestic flights with ATR aircraft.
Published – 02 Sep 2026 23:32 IST