Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to be in Chennai on Sunday, 11 October 2026, to inaugurate, dedicate and lay foundation stones for development projects worth over Rs 13,000 crore, according to the programme released by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The main item is the Poonamallee-Vadapalani stretch of Phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail Project. The other projects cover national highways, railways, ports, a refinery unit and a research centre at IIT Madras.
This article sets out what the PMO programme lists. It was written from the official schedule, so the timings below are the planned ones.
The schedule for the day
| Time (as given by the PMO) | Programme |
|---|---|
| Around 11:30 AM | Metro ride from Porur Bypass station to Poonamallee Bypass station and back |
| Around 12:15 PM | Darshan and pooja at the Jalakandeswarar Temple in Chennai, followed by a walkthrough of the Brain Centre at IIT Madras |
| Around 1:30 PM | Foundation stones, inaugurations and dedication of the projects, and an address |
| Around 3 PM | Golden Jubilee celebrations of Jaigopal Garodia Hindu Vidyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School |
Chennai Metro: Poonamallee-Vadapalani stretch
The PMO says the Poonamallee-Vadapalani stretch of Metro Phase II has been built at a cost of around Rs 4,900 crore. The corridor includes a 3.7-km double-decker structure and a signalling system designed to support driverless operations.
For commuters, the point of the line is the link between Chennai's western suburbs and the city centre. The PMO statement says it is expected to reduce daily travel time on that route. The statement does not give fares, train frequency or the date from which regular passenger services run on the full stretch; those details come from Chennai Metro Rail Limited.
Highways worth around Rs 3,700 crore
Three national highway items are on the list:
- Vadugapatti-Therkuvenganallur section of NH-744 - 36 km, four lanes, to be inaugurated.
- Madurai Ring Road section of NH-744A - 30 km, four lanes, to be inaugurated. It is meant to move through traffic around Madurai instead of through the city.
- Thiruvarur Bypass on the Nagapattinam-Thanjavur section of NH-83 - four lanes, foundation stone to be laid.
Highway users in the state have seen other changes this month, including the start of barrier-free tolling at the Paranur plaza on the Tambaram-Tindivanam highway.
Railways: one new line, three flyovers, five stations
The railway projects are valued at over Rs 750 crore. They are:
- the Karaikal-Peralam railway line, to be dedicated to the nation;
- three rail flyovers in and around Coimbatore, intended to remove the wait at busy level crossings;
- five stations redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme - Palani, Vellore Cantonment, Ambasamudram, Paramakkudi and Namakkal.
Ports and the Manali refinery
At Chennai Port, four projects are to be inaugurated: a paved storage yard, four EXIM godowns, an upgraded cruise terminal and a seafarers' club. At V.O. Chidambaranar Port in Thoothukudi, eight projects are listed for inauguration or foundation stone. At Kamarajar Port, the Coal Berth-3 project is to be inaugurated and the foundation stone laid for capital dredging for Container Terminal Phase-I, Stage-II.
The Prime Minister is also to lay the foundation stone of a Group II/III Lube Oil Base Stocks project at the Manali Refinery of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited. The PMO puts its cost at around Rs 1,620 crore and its capacity at 270 thousand metric tonnes a year. Base stocks are the raw material for lubricants.
IIT Madras Brain Centre
The Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre at IIT Madras is to be dedicated to the nation. According to the PMO, the centre's mission is to map more than 100 human brains into three-dimensional atlases at cellular resolution, covering the human lifespan from the foetal stage to old age. An atlas of a stroke-affected brain, named C-STROKE and containing over 1,000 annotated microscopic sections, is to be released at the same time for use by researchers.
Key points
- Date: Sunday, 11 October 2026, Chennai.
- Total value of projects in the PMO list: over Rs 13,000 crore.
- Metro: Poonamallee-Vadapalani stretch of Phase II, around Rs 4,900 crore, with a 3.7-km double-decker section.
- Highways: around Rs 3,700 crore, including 66 km of four-lane road on NH-744 and NH-744A to be opened.
- Railways: over Rs 750 crore, including five Amrit stations.
- Readers tracking the state's finances can also see our report on the Tamil Nadu White Paper 2026.
