A major infrastructure development package, at a cost of Rs. 1.83 lakh crore, to boost the growth of the southern districts, and three water supply projects worth Rs. 6,000 crore, were cleared on Tuesday by the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board (TNIDB).
A meeting of the Board, chaired by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat, also cleared the establishment of the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Company Limited (TNIFMC), according to an official release.
Called the Madurai-Thoothukudi Industrial Corridor Project, the mega-programme covers 29 projects. It envisages the establishment of four manufacturing and business investment regions; two manufacturing and business investment areas; one agri-business investment region; two knowledge hubs; and three special tourism investment zones.
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The corridor would have a thermal power project of 800-MW capacity at Tuticorin, a greenfield port in the Manappad region, an entrepreneurship development centre for small and medium enterprises and a world-class medical city in Madurai. The cost of this entire package has been put at Rs. 1,83,819 crore, or 12 per cent of the total investments envisaged under the Tamil Nadu Vision 2023 plan.
An official said two railway projects — the Chennai-Kanyakumari high-speed line and the Chennai-Tuticorin freight corridor — formed part of the 29 projects.
It was expected that the project would attract Rs.1.90 lakh crore in investments from the private sector over 10 years, the release said.
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As for the water supply projects, two are meant for Chennai and the other for Coimbatore.
For Chennai, two more desalination plants with a capacity of 400 million litres a day (MLD) and 150 MLD at Perur and Nemmeli would be established at a cost of Rs. 4,070 crore and Rs. 1,371 crore respectively. They would be set up on a design, build, operate basis.
The Coimbatore water project, costing Rs. 556.57 crore, would improve and revamp the present feeder mains and distribution system. It would provide round-the-clock supply to 1.5 lakh households. This project would be implemented on a build, operate and transfer basis.
Earlier, the Chief Minister presided over a meeting of the Cabinet.