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A detailed feasibility report for the Metro Rail in Madurai will be prepared, said Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan in the Budget. Incidentally, Rajan was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 2016 and 2021 from Madurai Central.
Rajan also announced that services on the Kodambakkam to Poonamallee bye-pass section of the Metro Rail Project in Chennai would be commenced within four years, and the entire Metro Rail Project Phase II will be completed by December 2026.
In parallel, this government will speedily take up the extension of the metro rail project from Airport to Kilambakkam Bus Terminus via Tambaram, he said.
Highway development
On highways, the government will launch the Chief Minister's Road Development Programme, under which 2,200 km of State Highways will be widened to four lanes connecting district headquarters and 6,700 km of single and intermediate roads connecting taluk headquarters will be upgraded to double lane highways over the following ten years. About 59 municipalities that currently do not have bye-pass roads will be prioritised for the construction.
The overall provision for the Highways Department in the Revised Budget Estimates 2021-22 has been fixed at ₹17,899.17 crore, he said.
New buses
The minister announced that ₹623.59 crore has been provided under the KfW assistance programme to procure 1,000 new buses. The government will take measures to ensure that transport corporations are cost-efficient and meet norm-based performance indicators.
The whitepaper on the Tamil Nadu government’s finances said that the cost per km incurred by all STUs works out to ₹96.75, whereas the revenue recovery of STUs is just ₹37.60 per km, leading to a loss of ₹59.15 per km operated.
Where the government desires free or subsidised ridership or operation of uneconomical routes, explicit subsidy will be paid based on normative cost parameters. This new mechanism will be put in place during the current financial year, the minister said in the Budget.
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