Near the main gates in T1, WHSmith covers last‑minute needs
This WHSmith sits airside in Terminal T1, handy if your domestic flight from Chennai boards soon and you still need basics. Shelves run heavy on snacks, bottled water, and soft drinks, plus some instant noodles and packaged Indian sweets in the ₹100–₹300 range. You’ll also see a standard mix of phone cables, basic power banks, and travel locks, which helps if something died in the cab from Guindy or Velachery.
Books and magazines lean toward Indian bestsellers and English‑language paperbacks, not deep catalog, so expect a few dozen current titles rather than full bookstore depth. Prices are airport‑level: most paperbacks sit around ₹399–₹699, and magazines often carry a small airport markup over city newsstands. Stationery runs from cheap pens under ₹50 to small notebooks in the ₹150–₹250 range, enough to fix a missed packing list.
Hours usually track T1’s domestic bank of departures, with the shop open from early morning (around 04:00) until late evening departures after 22:00. That means it’s one of the safer bets if you land from another Indian city and have a short connection. Queues spike when two or three gates near T1’s central pier board at once, so a quick stop can suddenly turn into a 10‑minute wait at the single cashier.
Payment works fine with UPI, Indian cards, and most international credit cards; staff in T1 routinely process foreign Visa and Mastercard without fuss. Cash in rupees moves faster than mixed foreign currency, which they typically don’t accept. One practical play: grab water and any cables here before you sit at the gate, since nearby carts in T1 often sell only snacks and tea and rarely carry chargers.