Land swap with Nepal Consulate removes key obstacle for Kolkata Metro’s Purple Line

Kolkata: Progress on the Kolkata Metro’s Purple Line (Joka–Park Street) received a significant boost after Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) and the Consulate General of Nepal formalised a land-exchange agreement crucial for the project’s next phase.

As per the MoU, the Nepal Consulate will transfer 409.53 sq. metres of its land in exchange for 526.34 sq. metres of adjacent Metro Railway land. This swap will enable RVNL to build the essential ramp between Mominpur and Kidderpore for the upcoming Mominpur–Esplanade underground stretch.

Officials said the consulate-owned land is “critical for ramp construction” and had been a longstanding requirement for the project.

They noted that discussions on the exchange had been ongoing for nearly three years, involving several rounds of meetings between Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Metro Railway and RVNL across Kathmandu, New Delhi and Kolkata.

According to an official, the Nepal government agreed to the swap “after extensive dialogue and careful consideration.”

The MoU was signed on Monday at the RVNL Model Room at the Victoria station site in the presence of Nepal’s Consul General in Kolkata, Jhakka Prasad Acharya, along with senior representatives of Kolkata Metro, RVNL and the MEA.

(with inputs from agencies)