PM Modi launches several development projects in Tamil Nadu

PUDUCHERRY: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various centrally sponsored development projects today. He also addressed a public meeting organised by the Bhartiya Janata Party in the state. The Prime Minister’s Office informed that the PM will lay the foundation stone for 4 laning of NH45-A – 56 km Sattanathapuram – Nagapattinam package of Villupuram to Nagapattinam project covering Karaikal district in Puducherry. The capital cost to be incurred in this project is estimated to be at Rs 2,426 crores. The Prime Minister had tweeted before his visit that the Government of India is honored to be working for Tamil Nadu’s growth.

Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Medical College Building at Karaikal New Campus-Phase-I (JIPMER) in Karaikal district and Minor Port in Puducherry under Sagarmala Scheme. The cost for the project of Medical College Building in Karikal District (JIPMER) has been estimated at Rs 491 crore. Additionally, he inaugurated the Blood Centre at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, which is all set to function as a research laboratory and a training centre for short-term and continuous blood bank personnel training in all aspects of transfusion.

In Tamil Nadu, at 4:00 PM, the PM dedicated the Neyveli New Thermal Power Project to the nation. This thermal project is a lignite-based power plant designed for power generation capacity of 1,000 MW. This plant has two units of 500 MW capacity each. According to an official release, the plant has been built at a cost of around Rs 8,000 crore, the pit head power plant will utilize lignite as fuel from the existing mines of Neyveli, and it has been designed for 100 per cent ash utilisation. Neyveli, the release added, has sufficient lignite reserves for meeting the lifetime requirement of the project. The plant is set to benefit Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Puducherry, where Tamil Nadu will have a major share of power generated from the plant, amounting to 65 per cent of the total.

The PM also dedicated a 709 MW solar power project of NLCIL to the country, which has been set up over an area of about 2,670 acres of land, covering the districts of Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Ramanathapuram, and Virudhunagar. This project has been established at a cost of around Rs 3,000 crore.

He also laid the foundation stone for the extension, renovation, and modernisation of the Lower Bhavani Project System. This project, comprising the Lower Bhavani Project Canal System, Arakankottai and Thadapalli Channels, and Kalingarayan Channel, has been taken up at a cost of Rs 934 crore under the NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) Infrastructure Development Assistance. Along with this, he inaugurated the 8-laning of Korampallam Bridge and rail over bridge (ROB) at V.O Chidambaranar Port.

Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for design, supply, installation, and commissioning of a 5MW grid-connected ground-based solar power plant at V. O Chidambaranar Port during his visit, which is expected to cost Rs 20 crore. He inaugurated the tenements constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) scheme as well. Additionally, he laid foundation stone for the development of Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC) in nine Smart Cities including, Salem, Thanjavur, Vellore, Madurai, Tiruppur, Tiruchirappali, Thoothukudi, and Tirunelveli.