Chennai Metro Achieves Twin TBM Milestone At Kolathur

04 Dec 2025 CW Team

Chennai Metro Rail has achieved a major milestone in its Phase 2 expansion, completing a challenging tunnelling breakthrough in Kolathur while simultaneously launching another tunnel boring machine (TBM) from the same underground station — a first for any metro system in India.

On Saturday, TBM Mullai broke through at the north shaft of Kolathur station after tunnelling 246 metres from the Kolathur ramp since 23 May. Engineers had to navigate an unusually shallow overburden of just 1.8 metres, a steep –3.8 per cent gradient and the need for continuous ground protection, all while working beneath one of north Chennai’s busiest traffic corridors. CMRL confirmed that the breakthrough was completed without disrupting traffic or affecting nearby residents.

At the same time, TBM Kurinji was launched from the station’s south shaft. It will tunnel 1.06 kilometres towards Srinivasa Nagar through Grade-4 and Grade-5 rock, negotiating a tight 230-metre curve — one of the more challenging sections of Corridor 5.

The simultaneous breakthrough and launch represent a rare engineering achievement: two TBMs operating from the same underground station at the same time. Corridor 5 spans 47 kilometres, including a 5.8-kilometre underground stretch where four TBMs — Kurinji, Mullai, Marutham and Neithal — have been deployed.

Senior officials from CMRL, Tata Projects and the project’s general consultants were present to oversee the operations.

Real Estate

02 Apr 2026

Indian real estate attracts USD 1.4 bn institutional investments in Q1 2026: Vestian

Institutional investments in India’s real estate sector touched USD 1.4 billion in Q1 2026, marking the highest first-quarter inflow since 2022, according to Vestian. While investments fell 62 per cent quarter-on-quarter due to an exceptionally high base in the previous quarter, they rose 74 per cent compared to the same period last year, reflecting sustained investor confidence despite rising geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges.Commercial real estate remained the key driver of investment activity during the quarter, accounting for 80 per cent of total inflows, sharply higher than 38 p..

VECV crosses 1 lakh annual vehicle sales milestone in FY26

VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), a joint venture between Volvo Group and Eicher Motors, has surpassed the 1 lakh annual sales mark in FY 2025–26, recording its highest-ever commercial vehicle sales performance. The company said it sold more than 100,000 vehicles during the year, marking a major milestone aligned with the original vision of the Volvo–Eicher joint venture.The strong performance was supported by demand across categories. Light and Medium Duty (LMD) trucks contributed 47,789 units, accounting for 46.1 per cent of total sales. Heavy Duty (HD) trucks recorded 26,867 units (25.9 pe..

Rodic Digital & Advisory partners SatSure to deploy EO intelligence in public sector

Rodic Digital & Advisory (RDA), the strategic advisory and digital transformation arm of Rodic Consultants, has signed a strategic cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SatSure to jointly pursue opportunities in India’s public sector. The collaboration aims to integrate high-resolution Earth Observation (EO) data and geospatial AI into government workflows to strengthen monitoring, compliance, and operational decision-making across key sectors.The partnership combines SatSure’s Earth intelligence capabilities with RDA’s expertise in government digital transformation and ..