In a significant move to accelerate a major IT infrastructure project, the Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation (Tantransco) has initiated the process of dismantling a dozen Extra High Tension (EHT) towers in Trichy. This action directly supports the swift development of the Rs 403 crore Tidel Park, a large-scale IT and ITES office space venture.
Clearing the Path for IT Growth
The towers, located at Panjapur along the busy Trichy-Madurai National Highway, were identified as a critical obstruction. They carried 230 kV feeder cables from the Trichy substation to vital substations in Thuvakudi, Alundur, and Thanjavur. Their overhead position directly above the planned Tidel Park site posed both physical and electrical hazards, severely delaying construction, particularly the raising of the building to its planned six floors.
District Collector V Saravanan recently reviewed the project's progress, leading to the decisive action to remove the towers. The Tidel Park Trichy is a joint development by the Trichy Corporation and Tidel Park, a state-owned joint venture of TIDCO and ELCOT. It is designed to offer a combined floor space of 5.5 lakh square feet.
Underground Cables: The Safer Alternative
To ensure uninterrupted power transmission, Tantransco will deploy an underground cable network as a replacement. Mary Magdalin Princy, Superintending Engineer of Tantransco Trichy, stated that the corporation will lay 9 km of 110 kV underground power cables using a trenchless method to avoid damaging the national highway carriageway. Permission for this work has been sought from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
"We will use underground cables as an alternative to cross Trichy-Madurai NH. Work will be completed by January 2026," Princy said. While the 12 interfering towers at Panjapur are being taken down, Tantransco will erect 10 new EHT towers along other stretches of the highway where overhead transmission remains feasible and unproblematic.
Project Timeline and Current Status
The removal of the overhead cables and towers is the final major hurdle for the Tidel Park construction. A senior official from Tidel Park confirmed that the overhead cables had prevented work on the upper floors. "Once the cables are removed and towers dismantled, we will expedite work to commission the project by December 2026. Presently, around 12% of the work is accomplished," the official noted. Work in areas not overlapped by the cables has been progressing continuously.
This infrastructure overhaul underscores the state's commitment to fostering IT growth in the Cauvery delta region, removing long-standing bottlenecks to pave the way for Trichy's emergence as a competitive technology hub.
