File picture: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
| Photo Credit:
ANI
On the day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to land in Coimbatore to participate in a natural farming summit today, a controversy has erupted over the Centre returning the metro rail proposals for two large cities in the state – Coimbatore and Madurai. The reason given by the Centre was that a 2011 Census showed that both cities did not have the mandated 2 million population to justify a metro project.
However, a number of people on social media pointed that the reason could not be grounds enough to for reject the proposals for Coimbatore and Madurai. Both the cities would grow at a faster pace in future and deserved a metro rail, they argued. The rejection was a move to curtail the state’s development, they say.
The State government took up metro rail systems for Madurai and Coimbatore as a single project, and the combined DPR was submitted to the Centre in 2024. The DRP proposed a 31.9-km-long metro rail between Tirumangalam and Othakadai in Madurai at a cost of ₹11,300 crore. A 34.5-km-long project costing ₹10,700 crore was proposed for Coimbatore.
While a 2011 Census put Coimbatore’s population at 15.84 lakh and Madurai’s at 15 lakh, the Metro Rail Policy 2017 says that cities with a population of two million and more may start planning for mass transit systems, including metro rail systems. Hence, a metro for the two cities was not justifiable and the State government should consider other urban transport systems such as bus systems and BRTS, the Centre said.
However, many experts argue that if population was the benchmark, how could the Centre approve proposals for metros projects in Agra (1.66 million population), Patna (1.7 million), Bhopal (1.8 million) and Thane (1.8 million). If the proposal for Agra was approved for tourism, the same should apply for Madurai, which attracts lakhs of tourists from across the world every year, they felt
Chief Minister MK Stalin said the Centre has denied Metro Rail for ‘Temple City’ Madurai and for ‘South India’s Manchester’, Coimbatore, on flimsy grounds.
“A government exists to serve people without bias. Yet, the Union BJP treats Tamil Nadu’s democratic choice as a reason to take revenge. Pushing such a political custom, in which BJP ruled states get Metros for smaller Tier-II cities, while opposition ruled States are deprived, is a disgraceful approach. Tamil Nadu will fight! Tamil Nadu will win,” he said.
Kishore Chandran, Founder & President, Dr Kalam Foundation, argues that if a metro is sanctioned for Coimbatore, it could be running by 2030. By then Coimbatore would have 3.5 million people; 10 million+ sq ft of office space; 1,000+ tech companies and another million vehicles.
However, Vanathi Srinivasan, National President of the BJP’s Mahila Morcha, and MLA representing Coimbatore South constituency said, the claim of “rejection due to bias against Tamil Nadu” is misleading.
The Centre returned the DPRs based on the 2017 Metro Policy, which uses 2011 city-proper population. Coimbatore’s figure fell below the 20 lakh threshold as per that rule. TN can resubmit its proposal using urban agglomeration data (Coimbatore UA is 21+ lakh) or give special justification — just as the Agra Metro was approved for tourism. Similar precedents exist for Bhopal and Patna, she said.
TN has received ₹1.5 lakh crore in rail funds under the NDA — hardly a sign of any anti-Tamil Nadu agenda, she added.
Published on November 19, 2025