Land deal clears hurdles for Mominpur-Esplanade section of Purple Line
The Statesman | 19 November 2025
In a huge relief to the city Metro network, a major constraint on the way of Purple Line construction was overcome yesterday.
The Kolkata Metro Railway, its implementing agency the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) and the Consulate General of Nepal in Kolkata signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to exchange parcels of land.
The MoU, which is like a breather to the proposed Mominpur-Esplanade underground section of Purple Line will facilitate the exchange of 409.53 sqm of land owned by Consulate General of Nepal in Kolkata with 526.34 sq. metre of adjoining land owned by Kolkata Metro Railway. The 409.53 sqm of land was much needed for the construction of a ramp between Mominpur and Khidirpur of the proposed Purple Line project.
Notably, the project was obstructed for a long time due to land acquisition issues. According to the city Metro office, several tenants, shop owners and others had moved to Calcutta High Court and then the Supreme Court against such acquisition. However, after a span of three years such cases were disposed of by the courts, resulting in acquisition and taking over of possession of land required for this project. Also, before the signing of the MoU, several meetings were held between 2022-2025 among the ministry of foreign affairs of Nepal and the ministry of external affairs, Kolkata Metro Railway and RVNL at Kathmandu, New Delhi and Kolkata to ensure smooth exchange of this land. After several rounds of meetings, the government of Nepal gave concurrence to exchange of this stretch of land.
The signing of the MoU was signed by the Consul General of Nepal in Kolkata, Jhakka Prasad Acharya, officials of the city Metro and the RVNL along with Ashish Middha, director and head of branch secretariat of the ministry of external affairs at RVNL Model Room situated at the site of Victoria station.