PUDUCHERRY/MADURAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Chennai on Saturday night for his one-day visit to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Sunday. The PM is scheduled to inaugurate and lay foundation stones for projects collectively worth over Rs 7,000 crore. He will also visit the Arulmigu Subramanyaswamy Temple in Thiruparankundram and offer prayers.
The PM was received at the airport by Governor R N Ravi, Union Minister L Murugan, state Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, BJP state president Nainar Nagendran and senior BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan. Security has been intensified in Puducherry and Madurai, with drone operations banned during the visit.
Meanwhile, after a controversy broke out on Saturday over installation of rationalist leader Periyar E V Ramasamy’s image at the venue of the NDA meet in Madurai, where the PM is to deliver a speech on Sunday, it was replaced with the BJP’s ‘lotus’ symbol.
According to sources, the conference will witness the participation of all alliance party leaders of the NDA along with the PM at the venue at Madurai’s Mandela Nagar. Organisers, from both AIADMK and BJP, are overseeing the arrangements. Images of former chief ministers CN Annadurai and J Jayalalithaa have been displayed at the venue.
In Puducherry, the PM will lay the foundation stone for 74 projects worth Rs 1,571 crore and inaugurate 19 completed works valued at Rs 1,142 crore. The initiatives span urban infrastructure, rural roads, water supply and sanitation. Projects include works under the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment scheme, mangrove restoration under the MISHTI programme, and water supply schemes funded by Agence Française de Développement.
He will also dedicate to the nation the 750-acre Karasur–Sedarapet Industrial Estate, expected to be declared the Union Territory’s first Special Economic Zone, housing a pharma park, textile and IT parks, an R&D centre of IIT Madras and facilities of JIPMER. The estate is projected to generate employment for over 40,000 people. Other engagements include launching e-buses under the PM e-Bus Seva initiative.
In TN, Modi will inaugurate projects worth over Rs 4,400 crore in Madurai. He will dedicate the Chennai Beach-Chennai Egmore fourth railway line to the nation and inaugurate eight redeveloped railway stations across the state. Foundation stones will be laid for the four-laning of the Marakkanam–Puducherry section of NH-332A and the Paramakudi–Ramanathapuram section of NH-87.