The government of Nepal has given its approval to a land swap between its Consulate General in Kolkata and the Railway Development Corporation of India. This move is aimed at facilitating the construction of the Kolkata Metro Purple Line project.
Nepal’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology and government spokesperson Jagadish Kharel announced on Friday that the cabinet has approved a land swap between the Consulate General of Nepal in Kolkata and the Indian Railway Development Corporation Limited. As per the agreement, 409.53 square meters of land owned by the Nepalese consulate in Kolkata will be exchanged for 526.34 square meters of land owned by the Indian Railway Development Corporation. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal, the two plots are adjacent to each other.
Terms of agreement
A senior Nepalese foreign ministry official said: “The land swap is aimed at supporting India’s critical infrastructure development. “It is a win-win deal,” the official said on condition of anonymity. The Indian side will be able to build its essential railway infrastructure, while Nepal will receive a larger piece of land in the adjacent area in return. Currently, there is a building on the consulate land that is being exchanging, and the Indian side also agreed to build a larger and improved facility on the land to be acquired by Nepal,” IANS reported.
Add Zee Business as preferred source
The official also added that India had been requesting a solution for some time as the planned alignment of the Kolkata Metro’s Purple Line passes through land owned by the Consulate General of Nepal. Talks between the two sides on the matter reportedly took place in July this year. Reports indicate that around 60 meters of the 450-metre ramp of the Purple Line will be built next to the existing facilities of the Nepalese Consulate.
Importance of the agreement
The Joka-Esplanade corridor, also known as Purple Line, is one of the recent projects of the Kolkata Metro. It has been designed to improve connectivity in South Kolkata and provide better access to central business districts, facilitating travel for thousands of passengers in the city. By facilitating the land swap, Nepal has played an important role in enabling the timely completion of this important metro project, while also ensuring larger and improved facilities for its consulate in Kolkata.
With inputs from IANS
