CHENNAI: Strongly condemning the union government for denying metro projects to ‘Temple City’ Madurai and ‘South India’s Manchester’ Coimbatore on “flimsy grounds”, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday vowed to secure metro rail services for these cities. In his post on X, the CM said, “A government exists to serve people without bias. Yet the BJP government at the centre treats Tamil Nadu’s democratic choice as a reason to take revenge.”
Stating that pushing such a political custom, in which BJP-ruled states get metros for smaller Tier II cities while opposition-ruled states are deprived of the same, is a disgraceful approach, the CM said Tamil Nadu, the land of self-respect, will never accept such a distortion of federal principles.
“They tried to stall Chennai metro, but we overcame those malicious attempts and kept the project progressing. With the same determination, we will secure metro rail that Madurai and Coimbatore need for their future growth. Tamil Nadu will fight! Tamil Nadu will win!” the CM asserted.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, in a post on X, said Madurai and Coimbatore are among the state’s most distinguished and rapidly growing cities, adding that metro rail is not a luxury but an essential infrastructure.
“Whether it is easing congestion or boosting the economy, metro is indispensable. Let us extend our full support to the call of the CM, urging the union government to approve the Madurai and Coimbatore metro rail projects, a rightful demand for the people of Tamil Nadu and a vital step for their future development,” the minister added.
On Tuesday, the centre rejected Tamil Nadu’s proposals, arguing that both cities fall short of the population and ridership norms laid out in the 2017 Metro Rail Policy and that the detailed project reports (DPRs) overstate demand and underestimate engineering constraints.
In a communication to the state government accessed by TNIE, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said it had conducted a “careful and thorough” appraisal of the DPRs after Tamil Nadu sought approval for the projects under a 50:50 equity-sharing arrangement with the centre.