CHENNAI: The union housing and urban affairs ministry has rejected Tamil Nadu’s proposals to build metro rail systems in Coimbatore and Madurai, arguing that both cities fall short of the population and ridership norms laid out in the 2017 Metro Rail Policy.
The detailed project reports (DPRs) submitted by TN overstate demand and underestimate engineering constraints, the ministry’s missive to the state government, accessed by TNIE, said.
The ministry, in its letter dated November 14, said it had conducted a “careful and thorough” appraisal of the DPRs after TN sought approval for the projects under a 50:50 equity-sharing arrangement with the centre. A senior state government official also confirmed the rejection.
For Coimbatore, the ministry said the proposed 34-km network is unlikely to attract the 5.9 lakh daily passengers projected in the DPR — a figure higher than the 4 lakh riders that Chennai Metro’s 55-km Phase I system recorded in February 2025.
The ministry noted that average trip lengths in the city are relatively short, typically 6-8 km, reducing the time-saving advantage of a metro. With road traffic speeds already approaching those of the proposed system, “it is most unlikely that there will be a shift to the metro from other modes,” the appraisal said.
It also flagged engineering and design concerns, stating that many stretches along the alignment sit on roads as narrow as 7–12m, making elevated structures and 22m-wide stations technically challenging without costly demolitions.
Centre: Lower-cost transit systems would offer better value for money in Madurai
The DPR’s assumption that the project could be built in three years was dismissed as unrealistic, while its economic and financial rate-of-return calculations were found to deviate from appraisal guidelines.
Crucially, the centre emphasised that Coimbatore’s population — 15.84 lakh within municipal limits as per the 2011 Census — does not meet the 2-million threshold required under the Metro Rail Policy for initiating the metro-rail planning.
The wider local planning area, five times the size of the municipal corporation, is not covered by the proposed corridors and is therefore unlikely to generate significant ridership, it added.
The ministry took a similar line on Madurai, observing that the city’s comprehensive mobility plan, approved by the state government, indicates that the existing travel demand justifies a bus rapid transit system rather than a metro.
With Madurai’s population also below the 2-million mark, the centre said lower-cost, expandable modes such as a strengthened bus network or BRTS would offer better value for money.
Describing metro systems as “cost-intensive and to be planned carefully for long-term sustainability”, the ministry returned both DPRs to the state. The decision underscores the centre’s tightening interpretation of the 2017 policy at a time when several tier-II cities are lobbying for metro systems to signal growth and attract investment.
Reacting to the development, Madurai MP Su Venkatesan, in a post on X, condemned the union government and questioned how the approvals granted to cities like Gurugram, Bhubaneswar, Agra, and Meerut with population lesser than 20 lakh as per Census 2011.
Many in Coimbatore also criticised the union government for the rejection. J Sathish Kumar, core committee member of Coimbatore NXT and Director of Kongu Global Forum, told TNIE that the people of Coimbatore, who have been waiting for this project for more than 15 years, have been hugely disappointed.
(With inputs from Aravind Raj @ Coimbatore and Jeyalakshmi Ramanujam @ Madurai)