Stalin says Centre blocked Madurai, Coimbatore Metro projects on ‘flimsy’ grounds

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday accused the BJP-led Union government of blocking Metro Rail projects for Madurai and Coimbatore on what he described as “flimsy” and politically motivated grounds.

In a post on X, Mr. Stalin said the Centre had shown bias by denying Metro systems to the two major Tamil Nadu cities. He alleged that the refusal amounted to “revenge” against the State for its democratic choice. “The Union BJP government has denied Metro Rail for ‘Temple City’ Madurai and for ‘South India’s Manchester’, Coimbatore, on flimsy grounds,” he wrote. “A government exists to serve people without bias… Tamil Nadu, the land of Self-Respect, will never accept such a distortion of federal principles.”

The Chief Minister criticised what he called a pattern of granting Metro projects to smaller Tier-II cities in BJP-ruled States while withholding similar approvals from opposition-ruled States.

He said Tamil Nadu would continue to press for the projects, noting that his government had successfully navigated previous obstacles during the expansion of the Chennai Metro.

“We overcame earlier attempts to stall the Chennai Metro. With the same determination, we will secure the Metro Rail that Madurai and Coimbatore need for their future growth,” Mr. Stalin added.

The Union government recently rejected the Metro proposals for the two cities on the grounds that they did not meet population requirements set under the Metro Rail Policy, 2017, which mandates a minimum population of two million. Citing the 2011 Census, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs noted Coimbatore’s population at 15.84 lakh and Madurai’s at 15 lakh, both below the threshold.

Tamil Nadu has argued that the decade-old census figures do not reflect the present scale and mobility demands of the two rapidly growing urban centres.

With Agency Inputs