- By Shibra Arshad
- Sat, 22 Nov 2025 04:00 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Tamil Nadu Metro: The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, has resolved to seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention over the proposed Tamil Nadu metro in Coimbatore and Madurai and demanded a meeting to discuss the matter in detail. Stalin, in a letter to PM Modi, said that he wants to meet the PM and explain the matter in detail.
Chief Minister MK Stalin has written a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Union Housing Ministry rejected Tamil Nadu’s proposal and sent it back, pointing out several discrepancies.
The state government has accused the Centre of systematic discrimination. Stalin has asked Modi to direct the ministry to reverse its decision, calling the rejection completely unjustified.
"The criterion of 2 million population, as in the Metro Rail Policy 2017, has been quoted as one of the main reasons for rejection. I wish to highlight that the population of the Coimbatore LPA area had exceeded 2 million way back in 2011 itself, and in the case of Madurai too, the expected population is likely to exceed it now," Stalin said.
Stalin argued that the 2 million criterion was not fairly applied to Agra, Patna and Indore metros. If that was done fairly, these metros wouldn’t have been materialised.
"The selective application of this criterion to our proposal has created an impression of discrimination against our cities, and the Union Government needs to dispel it by treating our cities on par with the cities mentioned above," the Tamil Nadu chief minister added.
The Department of Special Initiatives will submit detailed justifications on the issues raised by MoHUA. I urge you to instruct MoHUA to review the decision to return the proposals. If necessary, I am ready to meet you in New Delhi with my team to explain the issues in detail. Since these two projects involve the aspirations of the industrial and cultural hubs of Tamil Nadu, I look forward to your personal intervention in this issue," he further said in the letter to Modi.
After the Tamil Nadu metro proposal was rejected by the centre, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) held a massive protest in Coimbatore and Madurai.
Reacting to the row, the BJP accused DMK of politicising the matter and accused DMK of submitting a wrong Detailed Project Report (DPR).