Minister’s update on Tamil Nadu NHs

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is working on highways in Tamil Nadu including a detailed project report (DPR) on sea link near Chennai, Minister of State Mansukh L Mandaviya said in an update to parliament on 13 Dec 2018.

(i) Six laning of existing Salem to Coimbatore National Highway (NH-544) including a ring road for the city of Coimbatore under the Bharatmala Pariyojana.

(ii) Under Chennai-Kanyakumari East Coast Road; Chennai-Mahabalipuram section is already 4 laned by the State Government. In addition, a DPR for sea link to de-congest the urban sections of the East Coast Road near Chennai, the expansion of Mahabalipuram-Pondicherry section and Nagappattinam-Tuticorin-Tiruchendur is in progress. Project for expansion of Pondicherry-Nagappattinam section has already been awarded for construction.

(iii) Ministry is exploring an expressway between Chennai to Trichy with a spur to Tanjavur. In addition, DPR is in advanced stage for taking up the development of Tanjavur to Madurai via Pudukkotai, Pillayarpatti and Melur.

(iv) The DPR is in advanced stage to develop a greenfield alignment between Chennai and Salem through Kanchipuram, Tiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Salem districts to diversify traffic from the existing National Highways. The estimated cost and the timeline for completion shall only be finalized based on the outcome of the DPR. fiinews.com