PM Modi Inaugurates Bengaluru's Pink Line Metro and Unveils ₹15,600 Crore Projects

A Namma Metro station in Bengaluru

A Namma Metro station in Bengaluru. The new Pink Line stretch connects Kalena Agrahara to Tavarekere in south Bengaluru. (Photo: Sunnya343 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 — representative image)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Bengaluru on Friday, November 13, for one of the biggest infrastructure days the city has seen in years. The headline event is the inauguration of the elevated section of Namma Metro's Pink Line, alongside development projects worth more than ₹15,600 crore spanning metro and rail connectivity, renewable energy, power transmission and petroleum infrastructure.

The Prime Minister landed at HAL Airport at 10:05 am and began the day at the golden jubilee celebrations of Prashanti Kutiram at S-VYASA University in Jigani.

A New Pink Line for South Bengaluru

At 12:45 pm, the Prime Minister flags off services on the new Pink Line stretch from Tavarekere station and takes a metro ride to the IIM Bangalore station. The 7.5-kilometre elevated section, built at a cost of around ₹3,470 crore, connects Kalena Agrahara to Tavarekere in south Bengaluru.

The corridor has six stations — Kalena Agrahara, Hulimavu, IIMB (Bilekahalli–IIMB), JP Nagar 4th Phase (NS Palya–JP Nagar 4th Phase), Jayadeva Hospital and Tavarekere (SG Palya). With this opening, Bengaluru's operational metro network crosses the 100-kilometre mark for the first time. The final safety inspection by the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety was completed on October 8, 2026, and clearance followed on October 28. The underground section of the Pink Line is targeted for 2027.

Projects Worth Over ₹15,600 Crore

Later in the day, the Prime Minister inaugurates and lays the foundation stone for a series of projects worth more than ₹15,600 crore. The energy programme is the largest part of the package. It includes transmission schemes for renewable energy zones at Koppal-II and Gadag-II, built at a cost of around ₹4,450 crore, and the Bidar solar energy zone transmission scheme worth about ₹1,370 crore. Foundation stones will also be laid for transmission projects linked to renewable energy zones in Davanagere, Chitradurga and Ballari, involving investments of more than ₹3,450 crore.

Among the other inaugurations is India's largest underground LPG storage cavern in Mangaluru, with a capacity of 80,000 metric tonnes, built at a cost of over ₹850 crore. The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the COSMOS-Mysuru Planetarium, a new centre for astronomy education in the state.

Railways Get a Boost Too

Rail connectivity features prominently in the visit. The Prime Minister will flag off the Bengaluru–Mangaluru–Madgaon Vande Bharat Express, improving links between Bengaluru, coastal Karnataka and Goa. He will also inaugurate the 45-kilometre Bagalkot–Wandal railway doubling section, part of the larger 284-kilometre Gadag–Hotgi project, and the electrification of the 55-kilometre Sakleshpur–Subrahmanya Road ghat section, which completes electrification of the Bengaluru–Mangaluru rail route.

Four redeveloped railway stations — Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Sakleshpur and Subrahmanya Road — will be inaugurated under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. The day has not been without political sparring, though: the state government and the BJP have traded claims over who funded the metro expansion, with the state saying Karnataka bore 84 per cent of the cost and the BJP's Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya putting the Centre's share at 53.35 per cent.

What It Means for Bengaluru

For lakhs of daily commuters, the Pink Line opening is the most immediate change. The corridor cuts through some of south Bengaluru's busiest residential and institutional areas, including the IIM Bangalore campus and the Jayadeva Hospital junction, and should take thousands of cars off the city's congested roads. The Prime Minister's tour continues on Saturday in Gujarat, but for Bengaluru, Friday is the day the metro map finally crosses 100 kilometres.

Would you ride the new Pink Line on your first day, or wait for the crowds to settle? Tell us in the comments.

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