Karaikudi metropolitan area

Metropolitan area includes a city and its suburbs. For the city, visit Karaikudi.

The Karaikudi Urban Agglomeration, or Karaikudi Metropolitan Area, is the 21st most populous urbanized area in Tamil Nadu state of India. The Karaikudi Metropolitan Area^[1] consists of the city of Karaikudi and its suburbs in Sivaganga district, together formed as Karaikudi Urban Agglomeration by government of Tamil Nadu.^[2]

Karaikudi Metropolitan Area Karaikudi Urban Agglomeration
Metropolitan area
Karaikudi Metropolitan area
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
Planning Authority	Karaikudi Local Planning Authority (LPA)
Seat	Karaikudi
Districts	parts of Sivaganga district
Government
• Type	Municipal Corporation
• Body	Karaikudi Municipal Corporation
Area
• Metropolitan area	94.31 km2 (36.41 sq mi)
Population  (2023)
• Urban	303,291
• Urban density	3,216/km2 (8,330/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	630xxx
STD Code	+91-04565
Vehicle registration	TN-63Z
Website	karaikudilpa.com

Economy

The economy of the metropolitan area of Karaikudi is heavily influenced by education, information technology and engineering at recent times.

Composition

The Karaikudi urban agglomeration is a metropolitan area in Tamil Nadu state, consisting of the city of Karaikudi and its suburbs. It consists of a municipal corporation and suburban areas spread out in parts of Sivaganga district.

Karaikudi LPA Limits

Below is the list of surrounding towns and village panchayats which comprises the Karaikudi Metropolitan Area. Number of wards will be reformed to approximately 100 depends on the population and zones going to be allocated.^[3]

Karaikudi Metropolitan Area (2023)

Sl. No.	Name	Governing Type	Population	Area (km2.)	Wards
1	Karaikudi	Municipal Corporation	131,120	13.75	36
2	Kottaiyur	Town Panchayat	50,164	6.75[4]	15
3	Kandanur	Town Panchayat	12,430	8.75[5]	15
4	Puduvayal	Town Panchayat	20,164	5.00[6]	15
5	Sankarapuram	Town Panchayat	53,476	22.69[7]	15
6	Koviloor	Village Panchayat	5,496	5.06	9
7	Ariyakudi	Village Panchayat	10,532	8.29	9
8	Ilupakkudi	Village Panchayat	9,768	12.29	9
9	Managiri	Village Panchayat	10,141	11.73	5
Total	Karaikudi City	Corporation	303,291	94.31

Districts

1. Sivaganga district

Taluks

From Sivaganga district, parts of Karaikudi Taluk

Transport

The Regional Transport offices in the Karaikudi metropolitan area are the Unit type of code TN-63Z.

Karaikudi is the headquarters of the Chettinad region, which comes under Madurai railway division of the Southern Railway zone. The city has several railway stations, of which the Karaikudi Junction is the most important and busiest in the district and nearer parts of the region. This Junction is undergoing various developments by the Indian Railways AMRUT schemes.^[8] The undergoing electrification on Tiruvarur-Karaikudi line is expedited as the line demands more trains along with the reinstated schedules.^[9]

Railway stations include:

List of railway stations in Karaikudi
#	Station Name		Railway Station Code	District	Present Condition	Category
	English	Tamil
1	Karaikudi Junction	காரைக்குடி சந்திப்பு	KKDI	Sivaganga	Functional	NSG4
2	Kottaiyur	கோட்டையூர்	KTYR	Sivaganga	Functional	HG2
3	Kandanur Puduvayal	கண்டனூர் புதுவயல்	KNPL	Sivaganga	Functional	HG3
4	Devakottai Road	தேவகோட்டை சாலை (ரஸ்தா)	DKO	Sivaganga	Functional	NSG5
5	Chettinad	செட்டிநாடு	CTND	Sivaganga	Functional	NSG6
6	Periyakottai	பெரியகோட்டை	PYK	Sivaganga	Functional	HG2

Temporary Halt Stations

During the time of electricals and track maintenance at Karaikudi Junction station, the suburban stations like Chettinad and Periyakottai will be used as a temporary halt stations^[10] for the arrival/departures of trains to/from at Karaikudi Junction.

Freight Stations

Chettinad has an inland container depot (ICD), also known as a container freight station (CFS), that operates as a railway goods shed. This CFS is operated by the Karaikudi Junction railway station, It has a warehouse where goods are consolidated or deconsolidated before or after being exported or imported.

New Updates on the routes

Karaikudi Chamber of Commerce and Trade union^[11] is urging the government of India to initiate a new route to Ramanathapuram through Devakottai Road railway station.^[12][13]