Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday accused Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin of “playing politics” over the rejection of Metro Rail proposals for Coimbatore and Madurai, and stated that the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) contained “serious inconsistencies and unjustifiable projections.”
In a post on X, Khattar said the Centre had sanctioned an unprecedented ₹63,246 crore for the Chennai Metro Phase II — the highest allocation ever made to any State for a metro project. “Despite this, the Chief Minister is attempting to politicise the Union Government’s actions taken strictly in accordance with the 2017 Metro Rail Policy,” he said.
According to the Minister, the DPR for the Coimbatore Metro included projections claiming that the shorter Coimbatore corridor would carry more passengers than the much longer and denser Chennai Metro line — an estimate he termed “unreasonable and unexplained.”
Khattar pointed out that while Coimbatore Corporation has a population of 15.85 lakh, only around 7.07 lakh people reside within the identified metro planning area. “Yet the DPR claims ridership figures almost five times the city’s actual population. Such projections cannot be justified,” he said.
Khattar further noted that even basic criteria such as travel-time savings — a core parameter for metro viability — failed to meet expectations in Coimbatore. He claimed that in several of the seven proposed corridors, there was “simply no adequate space” to execute the project.
On Madurai, the Union Minister said the DPR itself indicated that a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) would sufficiently meet the city’s transport requirements. He also criticised the Tamil Nadu government for declining to join the Centre’s scheme to introduce 10,000 electric buses across major cities.
His response came a day after Chief Minister Stalin accused the BJP-led Union Government of denying Metro Rail projects for Madurai and Coimbatore on “flimsy grounds.” CM Stalin asserted that while BJP-ruled States had received Metro approvals even for smaller Tier-II cities, Opposition-ruled Tamil Nadu was being penalised for its democratic choice.
Calling the decision “vindictive,” he said Tamil Nadu would “never accept such distortions of federal principles.” The Union Government has maintained that both cities fall short of the mandatory 2-million population threshold under the 2017 Metro Rail Policy.
As per the 2011 Census, Coimbatore’s population stands at 15.84 lakh and Madurai’s at 15 lakh — rendering both ineligible for Metro Rail planning under current guidelines.