Madurai: When chief minister C Joseph Vijay submitted a four-page memorandum of the state’s demands to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, there was not a single mention of Madurai. For a city that anchors southern Tamil Nadu, the omission has triggered disappointment among industry bodies and civic groups that had expected the new government to push long-pending demands of the region before the Centre.
The absence of any request related to airport or highway expansion, infrastructure upgrades, revival of the proposed metro rail project or expediting work at AIIMS Madurai has revived an old question across southern districts: does development in Tamil Nadu still stop somewhere south of Trichy?
Industry Bodies Voice Concerns
N Jegatheesan, president of Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the chief minister should have highlighted the proposed 31-km Madurai Metro Rail project, estimated to cost over ₹8,500 crore. “When several states are getting multiple metro projects, Tamil Nadu has only Chennai. In Madurai’s case, the Union government has not rejected the proposal but only sought clarifications. This was a good opportunity to revive the project and seek approvals,” he said.
Social Activists Criticize Omission
Social activist R Deepak said Vijay sought a new AIIMS for Coimbatore but did not even mention the need to complete ongoing work at AIIMS Madurai. One batch of students is set to complete MBBS next year and civil works are still unfinished. “Voters in eight of Madurai district’s 10 assembly constituencies backed TVK expecting a fresh push for the region. Instead, Vijay has gone back on those expectations,” he said, pointing out that even former chief minister M K Stalin had included both AIIMS and metro rail in a memorandum to the Centre in May 2025.
Infrastructure Gaps Highlighted
Mahendra Varman of Madurai Infra & Developments (MID) said Madurai airport had been given only a ‘namesake international airport tag’ while runway expansion proposals remained pending for years. “Trichy, Coimbatore and even Thoothukudi have moved ahead in different aspects of airport development, but Madurai remains stuck,” he said. He added that Madurai continues to be excluded as a point of call in most bilateral air service agreements, with Sri Lanka being the only exception and that too restricted to seven services a week.
V Senthil Kumar of Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (Maditssia) said industrialists had long sought an automobile-focused industrial park along Madurai-Thoothukudi corridor on available dry land parcels. “Such a project can support existing plastic, engineering and rubber units, attract new MSMEs and generate employment. It was a chance to push for growth, but the opportunity was missed,” he said.
