At least 10 mega infrastructure projects of national importance worth over ₹20,000 crore are in limbo because of non-cooperation by the Tamil Nadu (TN) government, central government officials said adding that these projects range from highways, pipelines and a neutrino observatory of global significance.
Projects are inordinately delayed because of non-cooperation by the state government in land acquisition, regulatory approvals, and utility shifting, two officials belonging to different ministries of the central government said requesting not to be named.
Their allegations came after TN chief minister MK Stalin on Friday attacked the Centre for not sanctioning even a single major project for the state in the last 10 years.
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Spokespersons of both, the Union and the TN governments, did not respond to an email on this matter.
Giving accounts of expenditure in key projects in TN, the officials said the Centre believes in cooperative federalism where all states are engines of growth. In this spirit, Tamil Nadu was given a record budget of ₹6,331 crore in FY25. Besides, projects worth crores were in various stages over the last 10 years, they added. According to them, the Centre awarded highway projects worth ₹64,704 crore in TN since 2014 and the total road-sector investments (planned and proposed) are expected to touch ₹2 lakh crore.
Other projects in the state are — five aviation sector projects worth ₹4,000 crore, shipping and port projects ( ₹10,168 crore), projects for fisheries ( ₹1,574 crore), PM Awas Yojana ( ₹20,000 crore in last 10 years), PM Kisan Samman ( ₹11,000 crore to 4.6 million farmers), MGNREGA ( ₹13,392.89 crore in FY24), medical collages ( ₹2,145 crore) and the textile park project ( ₹2,000 crore), they said.
Talking about the 10 mega projects stuck in TN, they said the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) — a project of global importance – had been languishing for years because of the TN government’s opposition.
“INO project is a multi-institutional effort aimed at building a world-class underground laboratory with a rock cover of approximately 1,200 metres for non-accelerator based high energy and nuclear physics research in India,” one official said.
The research is of “global significance” as little-known neutrinos hold the key to several important and fundamental questions on the origin of the universe and the energy production in stars, he said.
Tiny neutrinos are impossible to detect on the surface of the earth; hence an underground lab is required. There are four major laboratories in the world. They are located in Sudbury in Canada, Kamioka in Japan, under the Gran Sasso mountains in Italy and in Soudan mines in the USA. The lab is proposed at the Bodi West Hills near Pottipuram, Theni district of Tamil Nadu. In January 2015, the ₹1,583 crore project was approved by the centre with the proposed lab.
“Other than INO, several projects including Kochi-Koottanad-Bengaluru-Mangalore Pipeline, Tindivanam-Nagari new line and Sattanathapuram to Nagapattinam Section of NH-45A (new NH-32) are facing issues,” he said.
Besides infrastructure projects, implementation of welfare schemes are also tardy in Tamil Nadu, the second official said.
“Under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), ₹12,491 crore was allocated to TN from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024, but the state could utilise only ₹5,167 crore,” the official said. JJM is a flagship central scheme to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections.
Tamil Nadu has the 10th highest number of enrolments under PM Vishwkarma scheme, which is over 8.35 lakh, but, TN has not notified the state monitoring committee and district implementation committees.
“Due to that there has been no progress in the verification and registration of beneficiaries in the state despite high enrolment,” the official said. PM Vishwakarma, a central sector scheme, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17, 2023, to provide end-to-end support to artisans and craftspeople who work with their hands and tools.
TN is likely to be the biggest beneficiary because the state is known for arts and crafts, the official said. The scheme covers craftspeople engaged in 18 trades such as carpenters, boat makers, blacksmiths, locksmiths, goldsmiths, potters, sculptors, cobblers, masons, garland makers and fishing-net makers.