Cabinet approves Kolkata East-West Metro corridor's revised cost

The Union Cabinet has approved the revised cost estimates for construction of the Kolkata East-West Corridor project as per the realigned route and it will be implemented by the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation. The estimated completion cost of the project is ₹8,575 crore, with the Ministry of Railway’s share as ₹3,268.27 crore, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ share as ₹11,48.31 crore and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) loan of ₹4,158.40 crore. The completion date of the entire project is December 2021. The project aims to create efficient transit connectivity between the business district of Kolkata with the industrial city of Howrah in the west and Salt Lake City in the east through a safe, accessible and comfortable mode of public transport and will integrate multiple modes of transport like Metro, suburban railways, ferry and bus transport by constructing interchange hubs. The project envisages construction of 16.6 km long Metro Rail Corridor, including a tunnel below the river Hooghly which is the first transportation tunnel in India under any major river as well as Howrah station which is one of the deepest Metro stations in India.