Officials expected hefty allocations for the Orange and Purple lines — the 2 upcoming metro lines for the city to look forward to — now that the Green Line, or the Sector V-Howrah Maidan, which is India’s first under-river metro, is fully operational. But the Chingrighata roadblock may have dissuaded the Centre from loosening its purse strings. Only 2 years ago, in the budgetary announcements for the 2024-25 fiscal, the 32 km Orange Line corridor received a whopping Rs 1,791.3 crore. In 2025-26, it received Rs 720 crore. “We used most of the 2024-25 allocations by readying 8.8 km beyond Ruby crossing till Sector V and hoping that the stretch would be commissioned in June 2025. But the last 366 m viaduct work at Chingrighata is stalled for a year,” an official said. “If the Orange Line’s Phase II is launched, 15 km of the 32 km corridor will be operational. Much of the viaduct along New Town is completed. Around 4 km of work and completing 2 or 3 stations are left,” he said. The Purple Line’s kitty is slightly heavier at Rs 906.6 crore, against last year’s Rs 901 crore. Even as officials expected a substantial increase in funds (the mid-year revised allocation for the 14 km Joka-Esplanade corridor was around Rs 1,400 crore), the last 6-km stretch is in trouble because of 528 unauthorised shops at BC Roy Market, where the terminal Esplanade station is supposed to come up. In Dec 2025, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged the hurdles for 20 km of metro lines around Kolkata, which he said were held up because of land issues and pending NOCs with the state govt.
