CMRL sharpens plan for three new corridors

With successful running of Chennai Metro Rail’s first phase, three metro rail corridors covering a total distance of 107.55 km under Phase-2 have been proposed by state government and is currently awaiting Central government approval. The state has also initiated work to build a metro rail project in Coimbatore. In the current state budget, the government has made a provision of allocation of Rs.750 crore and Rs.1,000 crore, respectively, to provide share capital assistance and subordinate debt for Chennai Metro project. As against the project cost of Rs.22,828 crore, including Thiruvottriyur extension, an expenditure of Rs.16,258.45 crore has been incurred so far. The state government has also initiated the process to prepare feasibility-cum-Detailed Project Report for Metro Rail project in Coimbatore. In a related development Under Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Program, widening of 1,000 km of roads and improvement of 4,000 km of roads will be taken up in 2018-19. These apart, the state government has also resolved for a special focus to set up aerospace park and defence manufacturing corridor, which is expected to attract Rs.10,000 crore investment.