Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has assured to do the needful with the regard to airport infrastructure in Tamil Nadu and Southern States.

The assurance was given to a CII Delegation from Tamil Nadu, which met the Minister recently at Delhi, during which they discussed on the critical interventions required in the aviation sector towards the growth of major cities in Tamil Nadu such as Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem and Trichy.

Tamil Nadu State leads in several industrial sectors like auto and auto components, engineering, pharmaceuticals, garments, textiles, leather products, chemicals and air connectivity was a critical factor for a State and its constituent cities to develop and retain its leadership position in multiple sectors, the Minister was told.

Being an industrial State, full-fledged air connectivity to key destinations across the globe is a must for cities like Coimbatore, Ravi Sam, Past Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State Council, said in a release here today.

Only Trichy and Madurai served to international destinations as of now and Coimbatore, acting as a gateway to places such as Tirupur, Trichy, Salem and Erode needed improved international air connectivity for both passenger travel and cargo handling that was growing multi-fold year on year, he pointed out to the Minister.

Stating that the domestic air traffic in Coimbatore region in 2016 was estimated at around 20 lakh and the international traffic around 1.3 lakh, Ravi Sam said that with improved air connectivity to various domestic and international destinations, the region has a total catchment potential of 1.25 crore air passengers.

The total value of products exported from Coimbatore region through air cargo was estimated at Rs.one lakh crore, he said.

The delegation urged the Minister the need for airport land expansion, cargo facility upgradation, need for additional runway in Chennai Airport, creation of aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul, identifying land for constructing greenfield airport in Chennai and stressed on the need for airport expansion at Mysuru, Hubbali and Puducherry, he said.

The delegation included CII Tamil Nadu State Council Chairman P. Ravichandran, Vice-Chairman, M. Ponnuswami and CII Coimbatore Zone Chairman S. Narayanan.