Centre’s Institute of Urban Transport raises queries on Chennai Metro Rail’s three extension projects

The Institute of Urban Transport, a professional body under the purview of the the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), has raised certain queries on the Chennai Metro Rail’s three extension projects — namely, Airport to Kilambakkam, Poonamallee to Sunguvarchathiram, and Koyambedu to Pattabiram.

In 2025, the Chennai Metro Rail submitted the detailed project reports (DPRs) of these three projects to the Tamil Nadu government. They were then forwarded to the Union government.

While the ₹9,335-crore Airport-Kilambakkam stretch is a 15.46-km corridor touching 13 stations, the ₹9,744-crore Koyambedu-Avadi-Pattabiram corridor will cover 21.76 km, with 19 stations. The Poonamallee-Sunguvarchatram corridor runs for a distance of 27.9 km, making stops at 14 locations, and will be built at an estimated cost of ₹8,779 crore.

According to officials from Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), while they have commenced some of the preliminary procedures for these projects, the Institute of Urban Transport examined all three project proposals and raised some queries recently.

“We are responding to the queries. We need approvals from the Centre for these three project proposals, and it may take anywhere between six months to one year to receive them,” an official said.

Sources said the Institute had raised queries regarding the income classification categories with regard to housing, some aspects of the economic analysis to check the viability of the projects, information regarding the integration between different modes of transport in the city, and about the initiatives that CMRL takes to push the Make in India Scheme with these projects.

Officials said that even as they await approvals from the Union government for all three projects, they have begun the preliminary processes for commencing the work. “Since the Government Order has been passed for land acquisition for these three projects, the work to shift utilities will soon begin. Moving utilities safely without causing any inconvenience is the first stage of starting the project,” said an official.

“We are waiting for the State government to deposit funds for these three projects. Once that happens, we will hand them over to the respective agencies, like TANGEDCO or CMWSSB, for the shifting of the utilities. Simultaneously, we can start the land acquisition process, too. These activities will greatly reduce the project execution time,” a source said.