Assembly elections are scheduled for Bengal this year. The dates have not been announced yet. However, many believe that the Election Commission may start preparing once the SIR ends. Before that, Bengalis were looking forward to the central budget on Sunday, February 1. There were high expectations. But a section of economic experts claim that nothing materialised. Even the allocation for the Kolkata Metro is considered meagre by them.
In today's budget, Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated ₹914 crore for the Purple Line from Joka to Esplanade. Currently, the metro runs from Joka to Majerhat on this line. Underground work is ongoing from Majerhat to Esplanade. The budget allocation is for this work.
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₹720 crore has been allocated for the Orange Line from New Garia to the airport. There is currently no progress in this work in the Chingrighata area. There are also some complications regarding land acquisition in Salt Lake Sector Five on the same route.
Additionally, ₹500 crore has been allocated in the budget for the East-West and KMRCL's Green Line. ₹2,886 crore has been proposed for the Metropolitan Transportation Project for multiple works, including car shed construction in Barasat on the Yellow Line and land acquisition. A portion of this will be spent on extending the Yellow Line beyond the airport metro station.
