T.N. CM Stalin accuses Centre of denying Metro Rail projects for Coimbatore, Madurai on flimsy grounds

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday (November 19, 2025) accused the BJP government at the Center of rejecting Metro Rail projects for Madurai and Coimbatore on flimsy grounds.

In a post on

Mr. Stalin said the BJP-ruled States were smaller in World War II. He said it was a shameful approach to push such a political tradition that opposition-ruled States were deprived of while taking Metro for tier cities. “Tamil Nadu, the land of Self Respect, will never accept this distortion of federal principles,” he added.

“Them [Centre] We attempted to stop the Chennai Metro and overcame these malicious attempts, ensuring the progress of the project. “With the same determination, we will secure the Metro Rail that Madurai and Coimbatore need for their future growth,” he added.

The Union government had earlier rejected Metro Rail project proposals for Coimbatore and Madurai, citing that the two cities did not have the mandatory population of 2 million as per the 2011 census.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said that as per the 2011 census, the population of Coimbatore city was 15.84 lakh and Madurai’s population was 15 lakh. The Metro Rail Policy 2017 states that the population of a city must be 2 million or more to be able to plan a Metro Rail project.