With just four months left for the deadline, only about 50% of the T3 Terminal construction at Chennai airport has been completed so far.
Officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said while the contractor constructing the T3 Terminal had sought an extension of the deadline till March 2027, AAI has not agreed to it as yet.
A high-level inspection was held on Friday with a team of officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and AAI.
They inspected various ongoing projects within the airport. “A few members of the high-level team were not happy with the progress of the T3 Terminal construction,” a source said.
But AAI officials said, though the overall physical progress is about 50%, nearly 80% of the mobilisation of the materials has been completed already, and hence it is possible to complete the construction by December.
“The pace is definitely bound to pick up after this. We have not accepted the request of the contractor to extend the deadline to March. We cannot delay the project further and have to finish it in four months,” an official said.
The ₹2,467-crore phase II project included construction of an integrated terminal (combining the T2 Terminal and T3 Terminal) at Chennai airport which will serve to handle international flight operations. The work, which commenced about seven years ago, should have been completed by 2022. Though the T2 Terminal was launched in 2023, the construction of the T4 Terminal has seen delays and the building now stares at a completion date of December 2026.
Sources said the most difficult portions of construction of the T3 Terminal have been completed already and hence, it is possible for the contractor to engage more workers and complete the work.
“One of the major reasons for the delay is, the contractor bagged the project seven years ago keeping in mind the prices of materials and labour at that point in time. But they are finding it difficult to carry on with the work with the escalating prices,” another source said.
Published - August 18, 2026 05:00 am IST