Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allocate sufficient funds in the Railway budget for the early completion of projects in the State.

In the Vision Tamil Nadu 2023 document, ten important railway projects were included that are crucial for the development of rail transport and infrastructure projects in the State. They are — doubling of the Chennai-Kanniyakumari line; Sriperumbudur-Guindy freight line; Chennai-Thoothukudi freight corridor; Chennai-Kanniyakumari high speed passenger link via Madurai; Madurai-Coimbatore high speed passenger link; Coimbatore-Chennai high speed passenger link; Chennai-Bengaluru high speed link; Chennai-Bengaluru freight corridor; Avadi-Guduvancheri rail link; Avadi/Thiruvallur–Ennore port link.

Three of these – Chennai–Thoothukudi Freight corridor, Chennai-Kanniyakumar rail link, and Madurai-Coimbatore rail link – have been identified for implementation through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), with participation of the State and Ministry of Railways, she said in the letter.

The State government had indicated it would enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Railways to set up an SPV to promote these projects, which are also part of the Madurai-Thoothukudi industrial corridor.

For establishing the SPV, land is provided by the State and this should be treated as part of the State government’s equity contribution to the SPV, at market value. Matching equity contributions from the Ministry of Railways could be in cash or in the form of land owned by the Railways or other Central government departments.

In the case of equity contributions in cash, there should be assurances that these contributions by both sides would be made in time to ensure projects do not suffer delays.

In the draft MoU circulated by the Ministry of Railways, these concerns are not adequately reflected. The draft MoU requires revision before it becomes acceptable to the State, the CM pointed out.

She requested Modi to direct officials of the Ministry of Railways to engage in constructive discussions on evolving a fair, balanced and acceptable draft of the MoU.

Jayalalithaa added that a number of railway projects announced for the State in the earlier railway budgets had not commenced due to want of sufficient fund allocations.

Some of the earlier announced 20 projects include the 5th and 6th line on Chennai to Villivakkam and new line for Villivakkam and Katpadi Sections; doubling from Tindivanam to Kanniyakumari; doubling from Renigunta to Arakkonam; and New line from Karaikal to Sirkazhi, she said in the letter.

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