Vazhapadi (also Valapady and Valappadi) is a panchayat town in Salem district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2001 India census, Valappadi had a population of 16,121. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Valappadi has an average literacy rate of 64%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 71%, and female literacy is 57%. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age. It produces coconut, tomatoes. NH 68 which connects Chennai and Vazhapadi with Salem, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and the cities around. The highway is heavily travelled, so it will be expanded to four lanes in an expansion project taking place between 20082010, and a bypass will skirt Vazhapadi to ease the congestion.
