CM requests Centre’s partnership for Coimbatore Metro

Chennai: Tamilnadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to facilitate sanction of Coimbatore Metro Rail Project under 50:50 Joint Venture partnership basis between the Centre and the State governments.

In his address at an official function, in which Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for various projects on Thursday, he said the Centre should sanction the Coimabtore Metro project under 50:50 JV pertnership basises as was done for the Chennai Metro Rail Project.

He also urged him to allow operating of night flight services from Salem and Tuticorin airports. “At present, day flights are being operated from Salem and Tuticorin Airports,” he said and requested Mr Modi for allowing night flight services also.

While seeking expansion of Madurai and Coimbatore Airports, Palaniswami also sought operation of weekly direct flights to Dubai and back from Coimbatore as it was a hub and export centre.

He said due to the various initiatives of his Government, Tamilnadu has become a power surplus State.

The dedication of thermal and solar power projects of NLC will further improve the installed power capacity of Tamilnadu and will further help in the industrialisation efforts.

Thanking the Prime Minister for sanctioning 6,95,387 houses for urban Tamilnadu, he also requested him to extend necessary funding for the lower Bhavani irrigation projects and other irrigation projects of the State.

He also requested Modi to declare the Godavari–Cauvery River linking projects as a National project so as to benefit lakhs of people in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu.

Stating that the river Cauvery and its branch rivers have to be rejuvenated on the lines of “Namami Gange”, he urged the Centre to accord sanction and extend financial assistance to Tamilnadu at the earliest.

Palaniswami also said series of measures were taken by the state government to reduce the sufferings of the people during the pandemic, including cash assistance to general public and to the members of various welfare boards.