Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated on Monday that the NDA government had allocated a "record amount" of Rs 63.62 billion for the development of railways in Tamil Nadu. He remarked that this allocation is more than seven times the average annual allocation during the UPA era, which stood at only Rs 8.79 billion per year. The minister shared this information in a post on X.

In response to concerns raised by Chief Minister M. K. Stalin regarding the reduction in funds allocated for railway projects in Tamil Nadu, the minister suggested that projects could progress more swiftly if the state government supported the Centre in land acquisition efforts. He pointed out that only 807 hectares of land had been acquired so far, against a requirement of 2,749 hectares. The minister requested the Chief Minister?s intervention in accelerating the land acquisition process, adding that the Centre would meet the state halfway in its efforts. He assured that if the state took one step forward, the Centre would take two steps towards the development of railways in Tamil Nadu.