TN seeks Rs 2500 cr for infrastructure development

The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday asked for a one-time grant of Rs 2,500 crore from the Centre to take up infrastructure development in Chennai.

In his address at the pre-Budget meeting speech at New Delhi, state finance minister O Panneerselvam said Tamil Nadu was one the most urbanised states in India and the capital city of Chennai was fast expanding. The area of Chennai Corporation has increased considerably — about three-fold — after the recent merger of adjoining suburban areas. As the infrastructure requirement of this newly annexed area was very high, the Government of India may consider a one-time grant of Rs 2,500 crore to improve the infrastructure in the expanded Chennai Metropolitan area.

“We also urge that JNNURM II should have enough flexibility where funding should be adequate in order to address the huge deficit in urban infrastructure,” he said. The minister also asked the Centre to declare Anna Technical Universities as a Technical University of Excellence and extend a one-time grant of Rs 500 crore in the forthcoming Budget. He wanted Colachel Port to be developed as an energy port with facility for LNG import besides linking it up with various cities of TN and creating a grid with the gas pipeline proposed from Kochi to Bangalore via Salem and Chennai.