Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on July 26, inaugurated a slew of completed infrastructure projects worth Rs 4,900 crore in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district.
The PM inaugurated the new terminal at the Thoothukudi airport and the extended runway.
The new terminal, built at a cost of Rs 452 crore, spans 17,340 square meters. It was built to accommodate the Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) aim of increasing passenger footfall to 20 lakh per year, reports say. The runway has been extended from 1350 meters to 3115 meters for handling wide-bodied aircrafts such as A320s and A321s and other requirements.
To cope with the expected increased footfall, 21 check-in counters, 7 baggage scanners, 3 aerobridges, 644 seats, a feeding room for babies, isolation areas, 5 aircraft parking bays, and a fully equipped fire station have been added, The Hindu reports.
The upgrades have increased passenger-handling capacity from 156 passengers per hour to 1400 passengers per hour, the report adds.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated upgrades at the VOC Port in Thoothukudi. The upgrades include the 306-meter-long north cargo berthing facility with 14.20 metre draft, capable of handling larger vessels carrying coal, copper concentrate, limestone, gypsum and rock phosphate.
The all-weather VOC Port currently sees shipments of containers, coal, limestone, windmill turbine blades, fertiliser, edible oil, construction materials, timber, machinery, etc.
The PM inaugurated the completed 4-lane Sethiyathoppu to Chozhapuram 50 km road built at a cost of Rs 2,357 crore, and the road connecting the VOC Port to Thoothukudi that has been upgraded from a 4-lane road to a 6-lane road at the cost of Rs 200 crores.
Further, Modi inaugurated the double railway track for Nagercoil Town – Nagercoil Junction – Kanniyakumari, Aralvaimozhi – Nagercoil Junction and Tirunelveli – Melapalayam sections. He also inaugurated the newly
electrified Madurai to Bodinayakkanur line, aimed at reducing diesel dependency, improving train speeds, and encouraging tourism and cargo transportation. The rail projects were completed with a budget of Rs 1,032 crores.
The PM also laid the foundation stone for the inter-state transmission system to transport 2000 megawatts (MW) of electricity generated from water-water energetic reactors (VVER) at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. The project is budgeted at Rs 548 crore.
Inputs IANS