As part of his 10-day tour to 12 states and union territories (UTs), Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch and lay the foundation stone of several projects worth ₹15,400 crore in Kolkata on Wednesday, March 6. In five days, this will be his second trip to West Bengal.
Projects that Prime Minister Modi will launch in Kolkata, West Bengal
- PM Narendra Modi will formally open the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of the Kolkata Metro’s East-West corridor, marking the nation’s first foray into submerged metro services. An official announcement states that the 4.8-kilometre East-West Metro route was constructed for ₹4,965 crore and that Howrah will have the lowest metro station in India, 30 metres below the surface. Important locations like Salt Lake Sector V, the IT hub, will be connected via the corridor.
- The Central Railways reports that although the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade segment of the Kolkata Metro’s East-West corridor will be opened today, passenger services won’t start until later.
During his visit to Kolkata, the PM will also launch additional train services, emphasising the need to improve pathways to facilitate urban movement. These comprise the Taratala-Majerhat Metro portion and the Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay segment. - In addition to these, PM Modi will dedicate to the country the following projects: the Agra Metro’s stretch from Taj East Gate to Mankameshwar; the Kochi Metro Rail Phase I Extension project (Phase IB) from SN Junction Metro station to Tripunithura Metro station; and the Duhai-Modinagar (North) section of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor. The Pune Metro will run from Ruby Hall Clinic to Ramwadi.
- PM Modi is also scheduled to speak at a public rally later in the afternoon in Barasat, which is located in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, which is home to Sandeshkhali.
The final visit of PM Modi to Bengal - When PM Modi was in West Bengal last week, he spoke at two rallies in the cities of Krishnanagar, Nadia, and Arambagh, Hooghly. He denounced the TMC administration led by Mamata Banerjee for “atrocities on women” in Sandeshkhali during his speech, claiming that the “entire country is seething with anger over the issue.” In addition, he urged people to make sure the TMC loses the next Lok Sabha elections.
In the meantime, Modi also had a “courtesy meeting” with Mamata Banerjee at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata, which the chief minister referred to as such according to tradition.