Chennai, Mar 14 (Reporter) A new Global city will come up near Chennai in a 2,000 acre area with world class facilities to meet public needs, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said on Friday. The new city will be constructed by Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO). Presenting the Budget for the year 2025-26 in the State Assembly, he said Tamil Nadu is a State which is experiencing one of the highest rates of urbanization, along with the challenges that come with it. As people migrate from various parts of the state to cities, particularly Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Trichy and Madurai, urban local bodies are allocating additional funds to provide essential infrastructure such as roads, drinking water, street lighting, sewage disposal, public transport, education, and healthcare facilities in newly expanded areas to accommodate the growing population. However, urban planning experts suggest that rather than expanding cities in a sporadic manner, developing integrated new cities would be a more effective approach to meet public needs. "Accordingly, in the first phase, a new city will be developed near Chennai spread over an extent of 2,000 acres", the Minister said. The new city will feature IT parks, Fin-Tech trade zones, research and development centres, high-tech companies, banking and insurance firms, shopping complexes, trade centres, and conference halls, along with educational and healthcare facilities provided by both public and private sector institutions. This city will include multi-storeyed residential buildings catering to upper-income, middle-class, and lower-income groups, as well as extensive road networks, IT and green energy systems, co-working spaces, and recreational infrastructure such as urban squares and parks. To ensure seamless connectivity with Chennai, proper road networks, express bus services, and metro rail extensions will be developed. The works for the first phase of the ‘Global City’ project, offering world-class facilities, will be commenced by TIDCO soon, the Minister said...////...