Centre on MK Stalin alleging neglect of Tamil Nadu: ‘Far from truth’
The Narendra Modi government on Friday rejected Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin over his allegation of Tamil Nadu being neglected in sanction of projects by the Centre.
“Statement of chief minister is far from the truth and as a matter of fact, the present NDA government has significantly increased the funding of projects on railways , highways, airports, and also in schemes in the social and rural sectors in Tamil Nadu in the last 10 years,” sources in the government told HT.
According to the government, the budget allocated to TN for railway development between 2009 to 2014 used to average around ₹879 crore. Now, the Centre has allotted a record budget of ₹6,331 crore for railways to the state in 2024-25.
The government has said that the first Vande Bharat train in Tamil Nadu was flagged off on November 11, 2022. At present, 8 Vande Bharat trains are operating in the state.
The Centre has said that total length of national highways in the state was 4,985 kilometres in 2014, and has now increased by 40 per cent to 6,806 kilometres.
The government said that projects having a length of 2,094 kilometres at a cost of ₹64,704 crore have been awarded to Tamil Nadu since 2014. “The government of India is investing/invested a total of ₹2 lakh crore in national highways in Tamil Nadu,” the source told HT.
In the civil aviation sector, the government said five projects worth ₹4,000 crore have been approved in Tamil Nadu, out of which two have been completed.
The modernisation of Chennai airport with a cost of ₹2,467 crore is under implementation in two phases, the first of which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2023.
Construction of a new integrated terminal building at Trichy airport worth ₹1,112 crore has been completed and inaugurated by the prime minister in January 2024, the government said.
The government said that total investment received by Tamil Nadu in the port and shipping sector stands at ₹10,168 crore in 62 completed projects. Under the Fishery and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF), 64 projects worth ₹1,574 crore have been approved for Tamil Nadu by the Centre, out of which 34 have been completed.
The Centre said has released ₹20,000 crore for the construction of more than 15 lakh homes in the state in the last 10 years. More than 5 lakh loans worth ₹670 crore have been disbursed to street vendors in Tamil Nadu under PM SVANidhi Scheme, whereas more than 46 lakh farmers of TN have benefitted with amount of ₹11 lakh crore under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi.
The Union government said that more than 1 crore households have been provided tap water connection in Tamil Nadu and 6,500 villages have 100 per cent household tap connections under Jal Jeevan Mission.