CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated new projects worth Rs 150 crore and laid the foundation stone for slew of national highways projects worth Rs 3,110 crore in Tamil Nadu through video conference.
Among the new projects, the development of an access-controlled four-lane road for 43.95 km from Tiruvallur to the TN/Andhra Pradesh border on Chennai - Tirupati NH is considered crucial. The upgrade of NH is expected to reduce travel time on Chennai - Tirupati section. The project is to be taken up at a cost of Rs 1,376 crore.
Modi also laid foundation stone for enhancement of 6.6 km Thoppur Ghat section alignment on Dharmapuri-Salem stretch of NH-44 at a cost of Rs 905 crore.
Additionally, he also launched a few works -- widening of 47.6 km two-lane road into a four-lane road with paved shoulders on Coimbatore-Chidambaram NH 81 route(Rs 275 crore); widening of a 42.69 km two-lane road into a four-lane road with paved shoulders, coupled with road strengthening and the construction of a central median at designated sections on the Cuddalore-Virudhachalam-Salem road (Rs 295 crore); construction of a bypass for the Madurai-Achampathu-Virattipathu section (New NH 85) spanning 3 km (Rs 260 crore) and construction of 1.76 km flyover at the Periyanaickenpalayam junction on the outskirts of Coimbatore on Nagapattinam-Gudalur-Mysore Road (Rs 99 crore).
The PM also inaugurated a few bridges built on national highways in multiple stretches.
Modi arriving in TN on March 16 for 3-day visit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to arrive in Tamil Nadu on March 16 (Saturday) on a three-day visit. A BJP source said Modi is expected to arrive in Kanniyakumari from Kerala and address a public meeting. He will follow this up with a road show and public meeting in Coimbatore on March 18. He will visit Salem on March 19. He will address a large gathering at Gajjalnaickenpatti. However, information about his programme for March 17 is yet to be known, party sources said.