IANS | 11 Feb, 2024
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wrote a letter to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday highlighting the "inordinate delay"
in the Centre's approval for Phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail (CMRL)
project.
Chief Minister Stalin in the letter urged the Prime Minister to personally intervene and to expedite approval.
He
also informed the Prime Minister that Tamil Nadu approved Phase II of
the project with three more corridors covering 119 km at a total cost of
Rs 63,246 crore and the same was recommended to the Union Ministry of
Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for its approval in January 2019.
He pointed out that this was submitted with the recommendation of the MoHUA and NITI Aayog.
Stalin
pointed out that funding approvals from agencies like the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Asian Development Bank, Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank were also
formalised.
The foundation stone for the Phase II project was laid by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 21, 2020.
Stalin
said that the proposal has been awaiting the approval of the Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for more than two years.
