Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has requested the Centre to make certain changes in certain clauses of the MoU signed between Tamil Nadu, the union government and Chennai Metro Rail Ltd on the Rs 14,600-crore project.

“Certain clauses are against the welfare of the state in the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the then DMK government, the Centre and Chennai Metro Rail Ltd in 2011.”

“I have requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make appropriate changes in the clauses for the welfare of the state,” she said, formally laying the foundation stone for the Chennai Metro Rail Project Phase-I Extension from Washermenpet to Thirvottiyur here today.

The Chief Minister said she had explained about the MoU in detail during her meeting with Modi in New Delhi last month.

On the first phase of the Rs 14,600-crore Chennai Metro Rail project, she said, the then DMK government had spent only Rs 1,143 crore between 2006 and 2011.

“From June 2011 till June 2016, a sum of Rs 11,596 crore was spent on the project,” she said, adding, her government was allocating funds for the project every year sufficiently.

Jayalalithaa said Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu had played a significant role in getting approvals from the Centre for the metro rail project.

“Venkaiah Naidu has been a good friend of Tamil Nadu. It is pertinent to say that he has played a significant role in getting speedy approval from the Centre for projects related to the state,” she said.

On the status of the metro rail projects, she said “services on the route between Little Mount and Airport will begin next month, while extension from Alandur to St Thomas Mount would open in October and Koyambedu to Park was expected to begin by the end of this year”.

“The work on the remaining areas will be completed before the end of 2017,” she added.

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