PM Modi to roll out Rs 13,000 crore projects in Tamil Nadu, inaugurate Chennai Metro stretch

CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a key stretch of Chennai Metro Rail Phase II and launch development projects worth over Rs 13,000 crore during his visit to Tamil Nadu on Sunday, with a wide-ranging infrastructure push covering urban transport, highways, railways, ports and petroleum.

Modi will undertake a Metro ride from Porur Bypass to Poonamallee Bypass and back at around 11.30 am. He will subsequently offer prayers at the Jalakandeswarar Temple and visit the Brain Centre at IIT Madras before launching the projects at around 1.30 pm.

The Poonamallee–Vadapalani Metro stretch, built at a cost of around Rs 4,900 crore, features a 3.7-km double-decker structure and advanced signalling systems designed to support driverless operations. It is expected to improve connectivity between Chennai’s western suburbs and the city centre while reducing travel time for commuters.

The Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for National Highway projects worth around Rs 3,700 crore. These include the four-laned Vadugapatti–Therkuvenganallur section of NH-744, the Madurai Ring Road section of NH-744A and a proposed four-lane bypass at Thiruvarur on NH-83.

Railway projects worth over Rs 750 crore will also be dedicated to the nation. These comprise the Karaikal–Peralam railway line, three rail flyovers in and around Coimbatore and five redeveloped Amrit stations at Palani, Vellore Cantonment, Ambasamudram, Paramakkudi and Namakkal.

Port infrastructure will receive a boost through projects at Chennai, V O Chidambaranar and Kamarajar ports to expand cargo-handling capacity and improve logistics. At Chennai Port, the works include a paved storage yard, four export-import godowns, an upgraded cruise terminal and a seafarers’ club.

Modi will also lay the foundation stone for a Rs 1,620 crore Group II/III lube oil base stocks project at Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited’s Manali refinery, with an annual production capacity of 270,000 tonnes.

At IIT Madras, he will dedicate the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre to the nation and launch a global mission to map more than 100 human brains at cellular resolution across the lifespan. He will also release C-STROKE, an atlas containing over 1,000 annotated microscopic sections of a stroke-affected brain.

The Prime Minister will conclude his engagements by attending the golden jubilee celebrations of Jaigopal Garodia Hindu Vidyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Chennai at around 3 pm and addressing the gathering.