Port, industries, smart and heritage cities for Tamil Nadu in budget

Chennai, July 10 (IANS) A harbour project at Tuticorin involving an outlay of Rs.11,635 crore, a mega solar power project, a smart city, an institute for ageing, mega textile park, an industrial corridor are some of the projects related to Tamil Nadu that were proposed by union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Thursday.

Presenting the union budget for 2014-15, Jaitley said: "Sixteen new port projects are proposed to be awarded this year with a focus on port connectivity. Rs.11,635 crore will be allocated for the development of Outer Harbour Project in Tuticorin for phase I."

He said the master planning of three new smart cities in the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor region - Ponneri in Tamil Nadu, Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Tumkur in Karnataka - will be completed.

According to him, the perspective plan for Vishakapatnam-Chennai corridor would be completed with the provision of 20 new industrial clusters.

He also announced setting up of a National Institute of Ageing in Madras Medical College here and one textile mega cluster in the state.

According to Jaitley, Tamil Nadu will be one of the four states to have a ultra mega solar power project in the country.

Announcing the launch of National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme to preserve the heritage and character of cities, Jaitley said the programme will be launched in Kanchipuram, Vellankani and four other Indian cities.

For neighbouring Puducherry, he proposed to provide Rs.188 crore for meeting commitments for disaster preparedness.