Tamil Nadu’s development is of great priority to the Union government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Saturday.
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Inaugurating a few infrastructure projects and laying the foundation for a few more, he highlighted data to underscore that the Union government had been giving higher importance to Tamil Nadu since the BJP came to power in 2014.
Mr. Modi said the allocation to the State this year for railway infrastructure projects alone was a record high of ₹6,000 crore, compared with an average of ₹900 crore a year between 2009 and 2014. While 800 km of highways were laid in Tamil Nadu between 2004 and 2014, it was 2,000 km between 2014 and 2023. The National Highways Authority of India’s allocation for Tamil Nadu had increased six-fold in 2022-23, compared with 2014-15, he said.
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Pointing out that Tamil Nadu had seen many important infrastructure projects in the last few years, he said all these projects, including those launched on Saturday, were beneficial to the major cities such as Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin appealed to the Prime Minister to ensure adequate allocation for some of the already launched projects, to increase the allocation for some more in the pipeline and to expedite a few ongoing projects facing delays.
Thanking the Prime Minister for all the projects launched on Saturday, he said the State government would offer full cooperation to all initiatives of the Union government to improve the State’s infrastructure, especially roads.
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The State government was spending more in capital expenditure to improve the infrastructure in line with its idea of the “Dravidian model” of governance, he said.
Contradicting the Prime Minister’s assertion that the allocation for railway infrastructure had gone up significantly, the Chief Minister said the Railways had not given adequate importance to the State for many years now. He said many railway projects announced for the State had not been completed because of inadequate allocation.
He said the approval for releasing the Union government’s share for the phase two of Chennai Metro Rail had been pending for two years. Appealing to the Prime Minister to grant this approval, he requested him to support the newly announced Metro Rail projects for Madurai and Coimbatore.
For true federalism to exist in the Union, he said, the States should have autonomy. As the State governments have a greater responsibility towards fulfilling people’s needs because of their proximity to people, the Union government’s cooperation is crucial to addressing the States’ financial needs and implementing schemes in line with people’s aspirations. As the Prime Minister was formerly a Chief Minister, Mr. Stalin felt that he would understand the import of his appeal.