Prime Minister Modi Narendra Modi on Saturday said Tamil Nadu is one of India’s growth engines, and the Centre has been supporting the State’s infrastructure projects as he inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for ₹5,200 crore worth of airport, highway, and railway projects in the State.
After launching the national highway road projects and unveiling plaques for new national highway projects in the State, Prime Minister Modi said Tamil Nadu’s development is a great priority for the Centre and the State has been allocated an all-time high budget of ₹.6000 crore this year for railway infrastructure.
“The average amount allocated to the State during 2009-2014 was less than ₹900 crore. Also, the length of the national highway in the State was about 800 km during 2004-2014. But, between 2014 and 2023, nearly 2,000 km of national highway was added in Tamil Nadu. In 2014-15, the investment in the development and maintenance of the national highways in Tamil Nadu was around ₹1,200 crore. In 2022-23, it increased six-fold to over ₹8,200 crore, pointed out Modi.
Several projects
In the last few years, Tamil Nadu has seen several projects such as the defence industrial corridor and the recent PM-MITRA mega textile park, Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway, and the Construction of a Multimodal Logistics Park, among others. These will support the growth of the State while generating a huge number of jobs. “I am sure the projects inaugurated today will also benefit the State and its people,” he added.
Thanking Prime Minister for inaugurating many development projects for Tamil Nadu, MK Stain, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, said the State government has been focusing on implementing various infrastructure projects to support the growth of the State. Amid a tight financial situation, the State government has improved its spending on infrastructure projects to ₹44,365 crore now from ₹33,068 crore earlier.
He requested Prime Minister Modi to expedite the ongoing road and railway projects in Tamil Nadu. He urged the Prime Minister to direct the NHAI to speed up ongoing road projects as the State is required to boost its infrastructure to support its economic growth. Stalin also urged Modi to announce new railway projects and allocate funds for the railway projects announced earlier.
Reiterating his earlier request for the Centre’s support for Metro Rail Projects in Tamil Nadu, Stalin requested the Prime Minister for the speedy approval of funds for the second phase of Chennai Metro Rail Project works and support the newly announced Metro rail projects for Madurai and Coimbatore also.