Modi inaugurates Kolkata metro expansion and Bihar development drive

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate a substantial expansion of Kolkata’s metro network on August 22, with 13.61 kilometers of new routes to be opened and a direct airport link to be flagged off. The schedule also includes the rapid transit upgrade’s first phases connecting Sealdah to Esplanade, the Beleghata–Beleghata Hemanta Mukhopadhyay corridor, and a newly constructed subway at Howrah, as well as the laying of the foundation stone for a six-lane Kona Expressway. Later in the day, Modi will travel to Bihar’s Gaya to inaugurate and lay foundations for projects worth about 13,000 crore, underscoring a broad development push ahead of forthcoming elections.

In Kolkata, the three new metro corridors mark a major milestone in the city’s transport history. The Green Line’s Esplanade–Sealdah extension finally completes the East–West Metro corridor, which had been stalled for years by the Bowbazar subsidence issue and the underwater section near Howrah. The Yellow Line’s seven-kilometer segment will inaugurate Kolkata’s first direct metro link to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, connecting the airport with Noapara and, through interchange with the Blue...