Centre okays Rs 13,200 cr to speed up eight-lane highway project

The project will reduce the distance between Chennai and the pearl city by 100 km. According to State Highway authorities, the government is ready to go ahead with the project that links Chennai port and Thoothukudi port.

The project will ease traffic congestion between Chennai and Villupuram with ten dedicated lanes and it will later continue as eight lanes till Tiruchy. From Tiruchy to Thoothukudi the highway will be six-lane. The highway will connect Panruti, Vridhachallam, Ariyalur, Thanjavur and Sivagangai.

The current distance between Chennai and Thoothukudi is 600 km and the project upon completion will connect the port cities by 500 km. The State and Central authorities are working on the detailed project report and the land acquisition is likely to happen after the Lok Sabha elections, a State official said.

The project was the brainchild of Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan who called on Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami earlier to speed up work on the scheme.