Political parties, the authorities and commuters still have no idea why the Central government has been repeatedly denying funds for the Chennai Metro Rail’s phase II project.
The project seems to be a victim of Centre-State relations. One only has to look at the time line of development. Unlike the 118.9-km phase II project, approval and sanction of funds for the 45-km phase I were smooth and swift. In November 2007, the State government gave the approval for the project and in January 2009, the Centre approved it. Financial closure was achieved in the first year itself and the project was executed with equal participation by the State and the Centre, besides the loan from Japan. Back then, the State government, led by the DMK, had a good rapport with the Congress, which headed the UPA, which was in power at the Centre.
Six years of wait
In stark contrast to phase I, the 9-km phase I extension waited a good six years to receive approval from the Centre. While the State government gave its nod in 2010, the Centre took time till 2016 to give the go-ahead for this project. The BJP-led NDA entered office in 2014, with Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister.
In 2017, even as phase I was under way, the preparatory work for phase II began to ease the traffic congestion on the arterial roads across Chennai and to plan for the future. The work began a few years ago on the ₹63,246-crore phase II, which will run 118.9 km through three corridors (Madhavaram to SIPCOT, Light House to Poonamallee, and Madhavaram to Sholinganallur). But the journey to get the approval and financial assistance from the Centre has been protracted.
In 2017 itself, the State had sent the detailed project report for phase II to the Centre. In the following two years, the NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Urban Development raised numerous queries — a routine process — including those about the high cost of the project. This prompted Chennai Metro Rail Limited to reassess the cost and trim it down from nearly ₹88,000 crore to ₹63,246 crore. Finally, in 2019, the NITI Aayog as well as the Department of Economic Affairs gave the go-ahead.
Since 2017, a barrage of requests has gone from the State to the Centre for financial assistance and for carrying out the project as a 50:50 joint venture. In 2017, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami of the AIADMK met Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and sought the Centre’s support and approval for the project. In February 2019, Mr. Modi was in the city for the opening of the last stretch of phase I. Mr. Palaniswami utilised that occasion to make a request for phase II again.
15% share capital
In June 2019, Mr. Palaniswami submitted a memorandum to Mr. Modi, with a slew of demands, including phase II. In 2020, Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation for phase II. Mr. Palaniswami yet again sent a letter to Mr. Shah, requesting a 15% share capital from the Centre for the project. In the Union Budget 2021, a few months before the State went to the polls, the Centre confirmed its willingness to provide ‘counterpart-funding’ for phase II. Subsequently, the Public Investment Board, too, approved the project. The AIADMK-BJP alliance had grown in strength by then.
In the 2021 Assembly election, the DMK came back to power. Since taking over, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has been clear in his opposition to the BJP at every level and instance — be it flood relief, railway, infrastructure, or grants from the Centre.
As the funds for phase II were being delayed, the State had to allocate funds from its own coffers. It decided to implement Metro Rail in Coimbatore and Madurai too. But that was ambitious, and no funds were received.
Despite the victory on the electoral front, the DMK government, feeling discriminated against by the Centre, continues to be relentless in seeking its rightful share. In early 2024, Mr. Stalin wrote to Mr. Modi on the pressing need to speed up the approval for the project as a 50:50 joint venture. In June this year, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, too, sought the Centre’s contribution to phase II. In July, Mr. Stalin sent a wish list to the Centre, including phase II. Since these appeals did not yield any result, the State sanctioned ₹12,000 crore in the budget estimates for 2024-25.
To a question raised by DMK Member Dayanidhi Maran in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu said on August 8 this year that it was “implemented as a State-sector [project], and hence, the expenses are borne by the Tamil Nadu government”.
Does this statement mean that the Centre may not intend to provide its share of the phase II cost? Metro Rail officials, however, remain hopeful. Because of the time taken to get the approval for phase I extension, the State decided to start the construction with loans from international banks and take it up as a State-sector project, Metro Rail sources said. “It was thought that the city should not wait for such crucial infrastructure. But, without the Central funding, the project has put a huge financial stress on the State. It will also be difficult to take up the other extension projects that we have planned without support from the Centre,” a senior official said.
No green light yet
In the last five years, 12 Metro Rail systems have been approved by the Centre, including those at Nagpur, Agra, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Kochi Phase IA and II, and Bengaluru Phase 2A and 2B, while Chennai Metro Rail continues to wait for funds. Tamil Nadu’s phase II project proposal, sent to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs a few years ago, is still awaiting the green light.
