India’s Federal Minister of Finance Sitharaman announced on February 1, 2021 that 1.03 trillion rupees will be allocated for the upgrade of 3,500 kilometers of highways in Tamil Nadu, including the Madurai-Koram highway

As part of the widening of the Madurai-Kolam highway into a four-lane road, the Tirumangalam-Rajapalayam section will soon begin.

When submitting the federal budget for 2021-22, Federal Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an allocation of 1.03 trillion rupees for the upgrade of 3,500 kilometers of highways in Tamil Nadu, including the Maduri-Kolam highway.

The 72-kilometer land acquisition of the Tirumangalam-Rajapalayam section is in its later stages.

An official of the National Highway Administration of India said: "The bidding will be completed soon and the project will cost 16 billion rupees." This work will be divided into two parts, Tirumangalam-Vadugapatti and Vadugapatti-Rajapalayam, each 36 kilometers.

The project includes the construction of overpasses, bridges and the laying of bypass roads. Pudupatti, T. Kunnathur and Kallupatti planned a detour, and a 28-kilometer green road was planned between Krishnankoil and Rajapalayam. The project may start in April and is expected to be completed within 24 months.

When the work is completed, all major roads (except the Senj road) connecting Madurai with various destinations will have four access roads. Madurai-Kanniyakumari, Madurai-Thoothukudi, Madurai-Ramanathapuram and Madurai-Tiruchi already have four channels.

The Rajapalayam Chamber of Commerce welcomes the widening of the Madurai-Kalam highway. "This is the main cargo route between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. This road is very necessary to ease the traffic jam on this narrow section," said committee secretary R. Narayanaswami. He also predicts that the widened road will bring more investment in Shenkota's industrial development, and Shenkota may become a large industrial center. Editor/Huang Lijun