'When Tamil Nadu grows, India grows,' Says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced high-cost infrastructure projects for Tamil Nadu on Saturday while also sounding the poll trumpet for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He stated that "the development of Tamil Nadu is of great priority to us... When Tamil Nadu grows, India grows."

Modi, who arrived in Chennai on Saturday afternoon, claimed the state had been given an all-time high budget of more than 6,000 crore this fiscal for rail infrastructure.

He was accompanied by governor R N Ravi, chief minister M K Stalin, and his ministerial colleagues in Pallavaram. Less than 900 crore was granted on average every year from 2009 to 2014 during the previous Congress-led UPA government.

In Tamil Nadu, nearly 800 km of new national highways were added between 2004 and 2014. Around 2,000 km of new national highways will be built between 2014 and 2023. In Tamil Nadu, approximately 1,200 crore was spent on the construction and maintenance of national highways in 2014–15. According to him, it climbed sixfold to more than 8,200 crore in 2022–2023.

He explained thay he has no doubt that the initiatives that were launched today will significantly raise the ambitions of the Tamil Nadu population. When top-notch infrastructure generates jobs in this area, incomes increase and Tamil Nadu expands, added Modi.He described the state as the centre of patriotism and national consciousness; the home of history and tradition; the land of language and literature. He