PM Modi to begin two-day visit to Kolkata, inaugurate 4 revamped buildings

PM Narendra Modi will also be part of sesquicentenary celebrations of the Kolkata Port Trust, where he will launch a port anthem and unveil a commemorative plaque for 150 years at the site of port jetties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kolkata on Saturday to inaugurate four revamped iconic Kolkata buildings — Old Currency Building, Belvedere House, the Metcalfe House and the Victoria Memorial Hall. He will be in the city for a two-day visit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kolkata on Saturday (Reuters File Photo)

The renovations are part of the ministry of culture’s plans to modernise museums and develop cultural spaces around iconic buildings in metro cities in India.

The PM will also be part of sesquicentenary celebrations of the Kolkata Port Trust, where he will launch a port anthem and unveil a commemorative plaque for 150 years at the site of port jetties.

At the iconic Victoria Memorial, the Archeological Survey of India have used multani mitti (fuller’s earth) to clean the facade of the 99-year-old building. ₹59.96 crore was spent, and of the 25 total galleries, seven will open to the public, including the Royal Gallery which will reopen after 25 years. Several exhibitions, including one featuring the 1987 Jaipur Procession, known widely as the world’s second-largest oil painting, will be held in these galleries. At the Old Currency Building, a 187-year-old triple-storeyed structure built in Italian style with Venetian windows, renovation was done by removing years of paint to replace with rich lime plaster, and ACs and sensor glass doors installed. The Metcalfe House, where renovations focussed on the inner structure, drainage, and the wooden staircase, will open to an exhibition on a century of Bengali Cinema in collaboration with Film Heritage Foundation.