Indian PM Modi to Launch ₹4,800 Cr Projects in Tamil Nadu, Mark Thousand Years of Rajendra Chola’s Maritime Legacy

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a two-day visit to the southern state of Tamil Nadu on July 26 and 27, immediately after his high-level engagements in the UK and Maldives. 

The visit will see the Prime Minister unveil a major slate of infrastructure and cultural projects collectively valued at over ₹4,800 crore, spanning regional connectivity, energy, maritime logistics, and civilizational heritage.

File Photo: PM NaMo in Coimbatore in March 2024

Modi will first arrive in Tuticorin on the night of July 26, where he is set to inaugurate a new passenger terminal at Tuticorin Airport built at a cost of ₹450 crore. 

With capacity to handle 20 lakh passengers annually and sustainability features targeting a GRIHA-4 rating, the terminal aims to boost tourism and regional connectivity across southern Tamil Nadu.

He will also dedicate ₹3,600 crore worth of highway and railway projects, including the 4-laning of the Sethiyathope–Cholapuram stretch of NH-36 and the 6-laning of the NH-138 corridor near Tuticorin Port. 

These upgrades are expected to reduce travel time, lower logistics costs, and catalyze economic activity in key agricultural and industrial zones of the state.

Modi will also inaugurate North Cargo Berth–III at V.O. Chidambaranar Port, expanding its dry bulk handling capacity by nearly 7 million metric tonnes annually. 

The port infrastructure upgrade, valued at ₹285 crore, is expected to position Tuticorin as a major regional trade hub.

Railway infrastructure in southern Tamil Nadu will receive a major boost with the electrification of the Madurai–Bodinayakkanur line, and the doubling of multiple key stretches on the Nagercoil–Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli corridors. 

These projects, collectively worth over ₹1,000 crore, will improve travel time, passenger convenience, and freight capacity across Tamil Nadu and neighboring Kerala.

In a critical move to support clean energy distribution, Modi will lay the foundation stone for a ₹550 crore inter-state transmission line project linked to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, enabling reliable power evacuation from Units 3 and 4 to the national grid.

On July 27, the Prime Minister will travel to Tiruchirappalli to participate in the Adi Thiruvathirai Festival and mark the 1,000-year anniversary of Emperor Rajendra Chola I’s maritime expedition to Southeast Asia. 

At a public event at the UNESCO World Heritage site Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple, Modi will release a commemorative coin in honour of the Chola ruler, who established the temple as an imperial capital and cultural beacon.

The celebration underscores not just the legacy of one of India’s most powerful emperors, but also the maritime, architectural, and devotional traditions that flourished under the Cholas. 

Rajendra Chola’s birth star, Thiruvathirai (Ardra), aligns with this year’s festivities, adding historical resonance.

The Prime Minister’s Tamil Nadu tour comes at a time of renewed focus on India’s southern coastal states as engines of economic growth, spiritual heritage, and geopolitical outreach under India’s Act East and Indo-Pacific strategies.