Centre puts city metro first, allocates 8,446cr

Chennai: For the first time, Chennai received the highest allocation among all metro projects in the country, with 8,445.8 crore sanctioned for phase II this financial year — nearly one-fourth of the total 31,755 crore national outlay — according to an RTI reply.

The jump follows the Centre's Oct 2024 nod to treat it as a centrally-assisted project, after more than three years of delay in clearing finances, which forced the state to shoulder the costs alone. Tamil Nadu earlier hesitated to shoulder the borrowing burden alone, as it would impact its debt ceiling, resulting in delays of 10 to 14 days in clearing contractor bills as it had to fund other infra projects too. But since the Centre's involvement, there have been no fund constraints, said a senior Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) official. Contractor bills typically range from 20crore for elevated corridors to 40crore for underground stretches, the official added.

The state approved the long-pending Airport–Kilambakkam metro extension, with central clearance expected soon. The 15.4km corridor, estimated at 9,335 crore, is part of the phase I extension and was stuck for more than five years due to multiple design revisions. The final plan now proposes a dual-layer structure along GST Road — an elevated road at level one and metro tracks at level two. This approval follows criticism of the delay in moving the project forward despite the region's growing transit demands.

Welcoming it, Dayanand Krishnan, a resident-activist from Tambaram who filed an RTI seeking updates on this and the main Phase II project, said the new corridor, which includes 13 metro stations, is expected to significantly ease traffic at Chennai's southern gateway. With areas such as Pallavaram, Chromepet, and Tambaram continuing to grow, the project is projected to serve about 25 lakh residents and draw a daily ridership of at least 1.5lakh. "The metro link, once operational, could transform commute patterns in these suburban pockets," he added.