Infrastructure valued at ₹13,000 crore — spanning railway networks, port facilities, and road corridors — was formally launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday at IIT Madras in Chennai, with the projects directed at strengthening Tamil Nadu's connectivity, industrial capacity, and built environment.
A metro rail line running between Porur Bypass and Poonamallee was formally set in motion by Modi, with Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, Union Minister L Murugan, and a contingent of senior government officials present at the occasion. A visit to the Arulmigu Jalakandeswarar Temple, situated within the IIT Madras campus, formed part of his itinerary, where he offered worship.
Speaking at the event after joining Vijay for a virtual inauguration of the projects, Modi said that being in Chennai with the assembled gathering was a pleasure. He described the day as marking a point of note in Tamil Nadu's record, with projects valued at ₹13,000 crore forming the backbone of the day's agenda.
Modi described the projects being unveiled as generators of employment for youth across the state, adding that metro rail expansion would bolster both industrial and commercial activity. He noted that the occasion also coincided with the start of Navratri.
Ahead of the event, Modi visited the Arulmigu Jalakandeshwar Temple to offer worship, and later told the gathering that India draws its forward momentum from the depth of its cultural heritage. He added that scientific advancement and updated infrastructure had opened pathways that were not previously available.
Reflecting on a quarter-century in public office, Modi noted that his entry into government came with a Gujarat chief ministerial oath in October 2001, after which voters extended his mandate through successive terms at the state level and ultimately at the national level. He added that across that span his conviction in democracy's twin foundations had deepened without interruption, even as the country's inherited traditions and its forward-looking ambitions continued to advance together.
Two priorities shaped the stated position: the welfare of the nation's citizens, followed by the principle of cooperative federalism. He described his long-held understanding of state development as something inseparable from the broader goal of national progress.
Speaking at the event in Tamil Nadu, Modi recalled that his time as Gujarat's chief minister had brought him into contact with two of the state's most influential political figures — M Karunanidhi, who led the DMK for decades, and J Jayalalithaa, who headed the AIADMK until her death. He went on to note that his years as prime minister had involved working relationships with Jayalalithaa, O Panneerselvam, Edappadi K Palaniswami, and M K Stalin, adding that while administrations in the state had changed hands over that period, his commitment to Tamil Nadu's development had remained a constant. He added that the same resolve was carrying their efforts forward in Tamil Nadu's development, with Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay at the helm of that undertaking.
Modi described urban development as an opportunity rather than a burden, adding that public transport holds a central role in that process. He noted that metro networks were running in just five cities across the country in 2014, whereas that figure had grown to 25 cities by the present day. The country's metro network, which stood at roughly 250 km in 2014, had by that point extended to over 1,100 km, according to his remarks.
Highlighting the government's aim of strengthening India's economic capacity, Modi noted that the Centre had been directing manufacturing support toward states including Tamil Nadu, adding that the state's industrial base — spanning its manufacturing operations, small-scale enterprises, and the workers within them — stood as a source of national pride. He added that programmes such as Make in India and Vocal for Local, both driven by the central government, had extended their reach to Tamil Nadu.
At the event, Modi put forward data indicating that electronics exports had grown elevenfold, defence exports fiftyfold, and engineering exports to record levels since 2014, while also pointing to Tamil Nadu as part of a broader manufacturing expansion that, in his account, was producing hundreds of thousands of jobs — both direct and indirect — across the country.
Port development plans formed part of Modi's announcements. A ₹17,000 crore allocation by the Centre has been directed toward transforming V O Chidambaranar Port in Thoothukudi into a large-scale container and green energy facility, with Modi stating that once the work is complete, vessels of the largest class would be able to call at the port, positioning Tamil Nadu as a broader hub for industry and trade. Modi pointed to faster ship turnaround times at Indian ports, attributing the improvement to gains in operational speed and efficiency, and added that the changes had allowed Indian goods to reach international markets more quickly than before.
Modi told Tamil Nadu officials that the Centre stood ready to provide whatever assistance the state required for its development, adding in a direct address that the central government's commitment to the state was unconditional. He expressed a call for collective effort toward building a prosperous Tamil Nadu as part of a broader goal of national development.
A formal request from Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister to the central government sought expedited clearance for the Chennai Metro Rail network's third phase, a corridor stretching across roughly 65 kilometres. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Vijay called for expedited clearance of the Chennai Metro Rail Project Phase III — encompassing the airport-to-Kilambakkam corridor, the Poonamallee-to-Sunguvarchatram stretch, and the Koyambedu-to-Pattabiram link — to bolster public transport connectivity across the city, while also urging a fresh look at pending metro proposals for Coimbatore and Madurai as a means of driving economic development in western and southern Tamil Nadu.
A cross-border metro corridor connecting Hosur in Tamil Nadu with Bommasandra in Karnataka was among the proposals Vijay put forward, framed as a project capable of delivering shared gains to both states. Approval for two high-speed rail corridors — one linking Chennai with Kanyakumari, another connecting Chennai to Coimbatore — was also sought by Vijay's administration, with the stated aim of strengthening regional transport links and drawing more visitors to both routes.
Vijay put forward three further requests to the Union Government: that the Godavari–Cauvery linkage project be designated a national project, describing it as a means of augmenting water resources across southern states; that expedited consent be granted to implement the assembly's unanimous resolution on making Tamil the principal language of the Madras High Court; and that the pending central share of ₹5,110 crore under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan scheme be released.
