Tamil Nadu has a transportation system that connects all parts of the state. Tamil Nadu is served by an extensive road network, providing links between urban centres, agricultural market-places and rural areas. There are 28 national highways in the state, covering a total distance of 5,036 km (3,129 mi). The state is also a terminus for the Golden Quadrilateral project. The state has a total road length of 167,000 km (104,000 mi), of which 60,628 km (37,672 mi) are maintained by Highways Department. This is nearly 2.5 times higher than the density of all-India road network. The major road junctions are Chennai, Trichy, Madurai,Tuticorin,Coimbatore, Salem, Karur, Krishnagiri, Dindigul, Kanniyakumari.

Tamil Nadu has a well-developed rail network as part of Southern Railway. Headquartered at Chennai, the Southern Railway network extends over a large area of India's southern peninsula, covering the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, a small portion of Karnataka and a small portion of Andhra Pradesh.

Tamil Nadu has a total railway track length of 5,952 km (3,698 mi) and there are 532 railway stations in the state. The system connects it with most major cities in India. Chennai has a well-established suburban railway network and is in the process of developing a metro. Main rail junctions in the state include Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Tiruchirapalli and Tirunelveli. Here Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Madurai Junction, Coimbatore stations are upgraded to A1 grade level. Loco sheds are located at Erode, Arakkonam, Royapuram in Chennai and Tondaiyarpet in Chennai, Ponmalai (GOC) inTiruchirappalli as Diesel Loco Shed. The loco shed at Erode is a huge composite Electric and Diesel Loco shed. There is a mountain railway connectingOoty and Mettupalayam. MRTS which covers from Chennai Beach to Velachery.

Metro Rail

Chennai Metropolis has been growing rapidly and the traffic volumes on the roads have also been increasing enormously. Hence the need for a new rail based rapid transport system has been felt and towards this objective the Government of Tamil Nadu have decided to implement the Chennai Metro Rail Project. This project aims at providing the people of Chennai with a fast, reliable, convenient, efficient, modern and economical mode of public transport, which is properly integrated with other forms of public and private transport including buses, sub-urban trains and MRTS.

The first flight in the country was from Mumbai to Chennai. Tamil Nadu has 3 international airports, a customs airport and 2 domestic airports. Chennai International Airport is a major international airport that is connected with 19 countries with more than 169 direct flights every week. This is the third largest airport in India after Mumbai and Delhi and has a passenger growth of 18 per cent. Other international and customs airports present in the state are Coimbatore Airport, Tiruchirapalli Airport and Madurai Airport. Salem Airport and Tuticorin Airport are domestic airports with daily flights. Increased industrial activity has given rise to an increase in passenger traffic as well as freight movement which has been growing at over 18 per cent per year.

Tamil Nadu has the third largest established power generation capacity in the country. The Kalpakkam Nuclear Power Plant, Ennore Thermal Plant,  Neyveli Lignite Power Plant, many hydroelectric plants including Mettur Dam, hundreds of windmills and the Narimanam Natural Gas Plants are major sources of Tamil Nadu's electricity. Tamil Nadu generates a significant proportion of its power needs from renewable sources with wind power installed capacity at over 6007 MW, accounting for 55 per cent of all wind-generated electricity in India. It is presently adding the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant to its energy grid, which on completion would be the largest atomic power plant in the country, in terms of capacity. The total installed capacity of electricity in the State is 17,656 MW. Tamil Nadu ranks first nationwide in diesel-based thermal electricity generation with a national market share of over 34 per cent. From a power surplus state in 2005-06, Tamil Nadu has become a state facing severe power shortage over the recent years due to lack of power projects and delay in the starting of power generation at Kudankulam Atomic Power Project. The Thoothukudi Thermal Power Station has five 210 megawatt generators. The first generator was commissioned in July 1979. The thermal power plants under construction include the coal-based 1000 MW NLC TNEB Power Plant.