Bengal Chemical is a metro station on the East–West Corridor (Line 2) of the Kolkata Metro, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The station takes its name from the nearby premises of Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, the historic public-sector pharmaceutical and chemicals manufacturer founded by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray in 1901.
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Line | Kolkata Metro Line 2 (Green Line, East–West Corridor) |
| Location | Maniktala / Phoolbagan area, Kolkata, West Bengal |
| Owner | Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) |
| Operator | Metro Railway, Kolkata (Indian Railways) |
| Structure | Underground |
| Country | India |
The station forms part of the underground stretch of the East–West Metro, which connects Salt Lake Sector V in the eastern fringes of Kolkata with Howrah Maidan across the Hooghly river. Bengal Chemical lies on the segment that extends the corridor from Phoolbagan towards Sealdah and central Kolkata, serving the densely populated neighbourhoods around Maniktala and Beleghata Main Road.
Line 2 is India's first under-river metro corridor, with a tunnel passing beneath the Hooghly between Howrah and Mahakaran. The line was conceived to ease pressure on Kolkata's surface road network and on the original North–South Metro (Line 1), and was implemented by the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation as the executing agency.
Bengal Chemical station is named after the surrounding industrial landmark established by Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, one of the earliest indigenous chemical and pharmaceutical enterprises in India. The naming reflects a tradition in Kolkata Metro of identifying stations through neighbourhood landmarks rather than only municipal place-names.
The station serves residents and commuters of the Maniktala, Beleghata and Phoolbagan localities, providing rapid transit access towards Salt Lake's IT hub on one side and the central business district and Howrah on the other. Surface connectivity is provided by city buses and auto-rickshaws on Beleghata Main Road and adjoining arteries.
As an intermediate station on the East–West Corridor, Bengal Chemical contributes to a continuous east-to-west rapid transit spine across Kolkata. Together with the rest of Line 2, it integrates suburban rail at Sealdah and Howrah with the metro network, supporting daily commuting between residential eastern Kolkata and employment centres in the city core and Howrah.