Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Chennai on Sunday, October 11, 2026 to launch development projects worth over ₹13,000 crore, spanning multiple sectors including metro rail, highways, railways, ports, petroleum and education. According to an official press release, the day's schedule included a metro ride from Porur Bypass Station to Poonamallee Bypass Station and back at around 11:30 AM, followed by Darshan and Pooja at the Jalakandeswarar Temple at 12:15 PM, and a walkthrough of the Brain Centre at IIT Madras at 1:30 PM. The projects cover Metro rail, highways, railways, ports, petroleum and education, with PM Modi scheduled to ride the Metro from Porur Bypass to Poonamallee Bypass and back at 11:30 AM, followed by a walkthrough of the Brain Centre at IIT Madras.
The Prime Minister inaugurated the Poonamallee-Vadapalani stretch of Phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail Project, built at a cost of around ₹4,900 crore. As reported, this corridor features a 3.7-km double-decker structure and advanced signalling systems designed to support driverless operations. The project is expected to reduce daily travel time for commuters and improve connectivity between Chennai's rapidly growing western suburbs and the city centre, significantly enhancing urban mobility in the region.
The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of and inaugurated key National Highway projects worth around ₹3,700 crore, focusing on strengthening road connectivity and reducing travel time. He inaugurated the 36-km, four-laned Vadugapatti-Therkuvenganallur section of NH-744, which will improve connectivity to important pilgrimage, industrial and commercial centres in the region. Additionally, he inaugurated the 30-km, four-laned Madurai Ring Road section of NH-744A, designed to improve traffic movement around Madurai and help ease congestion within the city. The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of the four-lane Thiruvarur Bypass on the Nagapattinam-Thanjavur section of NH-83 to strengthen road connectivity in Thiruvarur and facilitate smoother traffic movement by providing an alternative route around the town.
The infrastructure projects include railway infrastructure projects worth over ₹750 crore, featuring the dedication of the Karaikal-Peralam railway line and three rail flyovers in Coimbatore to ease congestion at busy level crossings. The Prime Minister also inaugurated five Amrit Stations at Palani, Vellore Cantonment, Ambasamudram, Paramakkudi and Namakkal under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. In the port sector, he inaugurated four infrastructure projects at Chennai Port including a Paved Storage Yard, four EXIM Godowns, an upgraded Cruise Terminal and a Seafarers Club. At V.O. Chidambaranar Port, he inaugurated and laid foundation stones for eight major development projects to expand cargo and container capacity, while at Kamarajar Port, he inaugurated the Coal Berth-3 project and laid foundation stone for capital dredging works for Container Terminal Phase-I, Stage-II.
At CPCL's Manali refinery, PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the ₹1,620-crore lubricant base stocks project with an annual capacity of 270,000 tonnes. Additionally, at IIT-Madras, he dedicated the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre and launched a mission to map more than 100 human brains into three-dimensional cellular atlases. The Prime Minister also released C-STROKE, an atlas containing over 1,000 annotated microscopic sections from a stroke-affected brain, intended to help researchers identify potential therapeutic targets. The mapping mission will cover brains from foetuses to older adults, with the main development programme and address scheduled for 1:30 PM, followed by PM Modi's attendance at the golden jubilee celebrations of Jaigopal Garodia Hindu Vidyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School at 3 PM.
