Tamil Nadu CM Vijay inaugurates ₹ 301.71 crore Periyar Arivulagam in Coimbatore
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay inaugurates completed projects and launches new projects of various government departments in Coimbatore October 16, 2026 | Photo credit: S. Siva Saravanan
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Friday (October 16, 2026) inaugurated Periyar Arivulagam, a library and science center built at a cost of ₹ 301.71 crore at Gandhipuram in Coimbatore city. He also unveiled a statue of Thanthai Periyar at the facility.
Mr. Vijay traveled in a van from the Coimbatore International Airport to Periyar Arivulagam, waving to crowds thronging the route to catch a glimpse of the Chief Minister.
The eight-storey building, including the ground floor, has a built-up area of 1.98 lakh square feet and stands on 6.98 acres of land belonging to the Coimbatore Central Jail. The foundation stone was laid and construction started on November 6, 2024 under the previous DMK regime.
Facilities at Periyar Arivulagam
The facility contains a collection of 80,000 books. It includes an auditorium, a planetarium, science centers, libraries for children and people with disabilities, and facilities for students preparing for auditions.
During the inauguration, Mr. Vijay toured the facility and interacted with government school children who explained the science installations and concepts displayed at the center. He became her first person to write in the guestbook. He wrote, “Know more, fear less.”
On the ground floor there is an auditorium with a capacity of 356 seats, a library for people with disabilities, a planetarium with 90 seats and a space elevator. The reception and science center are on the first floor. On the second floor there is a children’s library and a reading area for visitors who bring their own books. The third floor houses a library for bankruptcy applicants and an administrative office.
The fourth floor has sections for Tamil books and periodicals, while the fifth and sixth floors house an English book section and a business center. On the seventh floor there is a science center, an open courtyard and a digital library. An astronomical observation center with a capacity of 100 seats was also established on the top floor.
CM initiates projects
Later, Mr. Vijay inaugurated 89 completed projects worth ₹408.25 crore and laid foundation stones for 144 new projects estimated to cost ₹32.32 crore. He also handed over welfare assistance to several beneficiaries as part of the distribution of benefits worth ₹34.72 crore to 9,343 beneficiaries.
Ministers N. Anand (Rural Development and Water Resources), KA Sengottaiyan (Revenue and Disaster Management), Rajmohan (School Education, Tamil Development, Information and Publicity), V. Sampath Kumar (Backward Classes Welfare) and K. Vignesh (Prohibition and Excise) were present at the function.
Published – 16 Oct 2026 15:47 IST