Modi launches projects worth 20,000cr in TN

The idea of a developed India includes both economic and cultural progress, and this growth is incomplete without Tamil Nadu which is an icon of social and cultural legacy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, as he opened a new airport and addressed a university convocation in the southern state.

- 

The PM also said that he was deeply moved by the lives lost during the torrential rain and flooding in Tamil Nadu in December and that the central government stood with the people of the state "in this time of crisis".

Modi made the comments in two separate functions in Tiruchirapalli, first at the convocation of the Bharatidasan University, and then at the inauguration of the new 1,100-crore Tiruchirapalli International Airport. On the first day of a two-day trip to southern India that will include travel to Kerala and Lakshwadeep, Modi also inaugurated projects worth over 20,000 crore in Tamil Nadu, including several railway, roads, port, and petroleum and natural gas projects.

Speaking at the inauguration of the international airport, Modi said the Amrit Kaal, or the next 25 years leading up to the centenary of independence, will be a period to make India a developed nation.

"When I talk of a developed India, there are both economic and cultural aspects to that development. That is why I see a special role for Tamil Nadu.