From Bengal’s Silicon Valley to the Kalighat skywalk: 5 expected gains for West Bengal this year

Announced by various department officials or Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself, here are five main transformations the state is slated to receive in 2025.

Jai Hind Metro, connecting Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport to the city

Expected to be thrown open to the public by the middle of March 2025, this will be Kolkata Metro’s fifth route and phase 1 of the 16-km Noapara-Barasat corridor. The preparatory run has already been successfully completed. Passengers will be able to avail of Metro services directly from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport and save both time and money.

There will be two subways, one connecting the station to busy Jessore Road and the other linking it to the airport. Once the airport is integrated into the Metro map, commuters can access it via all three Metro lines (Yellow, Blue, and Green) through the Noapara interchange.

The blue line (New Garia-Dakshineswar) is connected to the East-West Metro’s green line at the Esplanade interchange, enabling passengers from both southern and northern parts of the city to reach the airport. This 6.2 km section, part of the 16 km Noapara-Barasat corridor, features four Metro stations — Noapara, Dum Dum Cantonment, Jessore Road, and Jai Hind.

New air traffic control (ATC) tower

This year will see the operationalisation of the new ATC (full form) tower and technical complex at the airport. The new Air Traffic Navigation (ATN) complex, including area control in the new technical blocks, will be operational around the end of 2025, while the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has started work to operationalise the ATC tower this year.

The new building at the Kolkata airport, with more than 50 metre of height, will be equipped with advanced digital technology in the field of communications and air traffic systems.

Work is currently underway to add a capacity of 2 million passengers every year to take the handling capacity from 26 million passengers per annum to 28 million. Around Rs 130 crore is being spent on the modular expansion.

Though the building is ready, a delay in procuring various automation equipment has pushed the deadline. Initially, parallel operations will happen with both the existing tower and the new tower functioning in tandem. Around three months later, the entire operation will shift to the new Rs 350-crore complex.

Bengal’s ‘Silicon Valley’

Bengal Silicon Valley Tech Hub, where top companies such as Reliance Industries (RIL), Adani Enterprises, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have obtained plots, is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025. The government believes the 250-acre futuristic tech hub in New Town would attract an investment of around Rs 1 trillion and create around 50,000 direct jobs.

Moreover, it is also expected to bring a boom in indirect employment opportunities. The CM has earlier stated that the Bengal Silicon Valley has a potential of Rs 27,000 crore in investments and ability to generate 75,000 job opportunities. The ambitious project was announced in 2018.

Digha’s Jagannath temple

The new Jagannath temple in Digha is expected to open its doors on April 30, 2025. From this year, the Rath Yatra will commence from Digha. The temple is coming up on 22 acre of land and will have guest rooms and rest areas besides an administrative building, a police outpost and fire service provisions. Women from local self-help groups will also get to sell local products. So far, Rs 250 crore has been spent by the state, which is expecting to spend more.

The main idol is being made of wood. The primary entrance will be designated as Chaitanyadwar, with the complex being named ‘Chaitanyadwar Jagannath Dham’. Like in Puri, there will be flag-hoisting at the temple too. The project, announced in 2019, commenced construction in May 2022 under HIDCO’s supervision after delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kalighat Skywalk

The long-awaited Kalighat skywalk in Kolkata is set to be inaugurated early in 2025. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced in Digha that the 500-metre-long, 10.5-metre-wide skywalk will open to devotees in mid-February.

This two-lane skywalk will feature four escalators and two branches. One branch will descend near the police kiosk at the north-east end of the temple, while the other will lead towards the Kalighat fire office just before the police station.

The construction of the skywalk is complete. While initially planned for inauguration before the 2024 Kali Puja, the project faced a delay due to the relocation of 176 hawkers from Jatin Das Park to a newly constructed building adjacent to the temple. The KMC had previously targeted October 28 for the inauguration.