CHENNAI: Amid speculations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit the State, to participate in the inaugural function of a slew of projects in January, the Centre has gone on a project approval spree for Tamil Nadu.
Many infrastructure projects in health, railways and road sectors, which were pending for years, have moved to inaugural stages in the last 45 days. It is learnt that in view of the by-election announcement in February, the Union government has allegedly directed the officials to speed up the works.
Incidentally, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, which funds road projects executed by the National Highways wing of State and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), has invited tenders for about 15 projects, worth Rs 3,500 crore, in the last three weeks. Particularly, bids has been invited for developing feeder roads which provide alternative connectivity to existing roads at highly congested routes. The projects include four laning of Thiruporur-Chengalpattu, Natham-Thuravankurrchi, Elichur-Palur road, Kodambakkam-Sriperumpudur, Dharmapuri- Hosur and Walajabad- Sunguvarchatram.
On December 17, the Union government sanctioned approval to set up the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Madurai. Earlier, the upgraded coaches of Tejas, a semi high-speed train manufactured by ICF, had been allotted to Southern railways for operating a daily express train between Chennai and Madurai. Following this, on December 20th, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), signed an agreement with the Union government to fund Rs 4760.67 crore for Chennai metro rail phase 2.
Multiple sources in the State government and Railways told Express that a mega function was being planned in Madurai, in which the Prime Minister is likely to flag off the Tejas Express and lay the foundation stone for AIIMS at Thoppur. He may also dedicate many National highways projects, including the recently completed Parvathipuram flyover, to the nation.