Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Chennai on 11 October to inaugurate and lay foundation stones for development projects worth over ₹13,000 crore across multiple sectors. The projects span metro rail, highways, railways, ports, petroleum, and education infrastructure, representing significant government investment in Tamil Nadu's development.
In transportation infrastructure, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Poonamallee-Vadapalani stretch of Phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail Project, built at a cost of approximately ₹4,900 crore. This corridor features a unique 3.7-km double-decker structure and advanced signalling systems designed to support driverless operations, expected to reduce daily travel time for commuters and improve connectivity between Chennai's western suburbs and the city center.
National Highway projects worth around ₹3,700 crore were inaugurated and had their foundation stones laid, including the 36-km, four-laned Vadugapatti-Therkuvenganallur section of NH-744 which will improve connectivity to pilgrimage, industrial and commercial centers. The 30-km, four-laned Madurai Ring Road section of NH-744A was also inaugurated to improve traffic movement around Madurai and ease city congestion. The foundation stone was laid for the four-lane Thiruvarur Bypass on the Nagapattinam-Thanjavur section of NH-83 to provide an alternative route around the town.
Railway infrastructure projects worth over ₹750 crore were dedicated and inaugurated, including the Karaikal-Peralam railway line to strengthen regional rail connectivity and three rail flyovers in Coimbatore and surrounding areas to ease congestion at level crossings. Five Amrit Stations at Palani, Vellore Cantonment, Ambasamudram, Paramakkudi and Namakkal were inaugurated after redevelopment under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
Port infrastructure received significant attention with multiple projects at Chennai Port, Kamarajar Port and V.O. Chidambaranar Port. At Chennai Port, four infrastructure projects were inaugurated: a Paved Storage Yard, four EXIM Godowns, an upgraded Cruise Terminal enabling simultaneous embarkation and disembarkation of more cruise passengers, and a Seafarers Club providing modern welfare facilities. At V.O. Chidambaranar Port, eight major development projects were inaugurated and had foundation stones laid to expand cargo and container capacity, build infrastructure for cleaner maritime energy transition, and improve cargo evacuation efficiency. At Kamarajar Port, the Coal Berth-3 project was inaugurated and foundation stone laid for capital dredging works for Container Terminal Phase-I, Stage-II.
In the petroleum sector, the foundation stone was laid for the Group II/III Lube Oil Base Stocks (LOBS) project at the existing Manali Refinery of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) in Chennai. With a total cost of approximately ₹1,620 crore and capacity of 270 thousand metric tonnes per annum (TMTPA), the project aims to produce Group II/III Lube Oil Base Stocks for manufacturing world-class, premium-quality lubricants in India.
In education and research, the Prime Minister dedicated the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre (SGBC) at IIT Madras to the nation and launched its pioneering global scientific mission to map more than 100 human brains into three-dimensional atlases at cellular resolution across the human lifespan from fetal stage to old age. He also released C-STROKE, a human ischaemic stroke atlas featuring over 1,000 annotated microscopic sections from a stroke-affected brain to help researchers identify novel therapeutic targets.
The Prime Minister participated in the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Jaigopal Garodia Hindu Vidyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School, marking five decades of the institution's contribution to education through academic excellence, discipline, cultural values and holistic education guided by its motto "Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye" (Knowledge that liberates).