Kochi Metro rail (file image)
| Photo Credit: H. Vibhu
Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Friday (August 21, 2026) said the government has no plans to rename Kochi Metro Rail Ltd as ‘Keralam Metro Rail Limited’.
“The name change proposal was done unilaterally without holding consultations with the government. There have been no such discussions and the government has no plans to change the name,” he told mediapersons on the sidelines of the foundation stone-laying ceremony for five houses being built under his ‘Punarjani’ scheme in North Paravur.
He said KMRL authorities had issued a press release on the name change proposal without consulting with the government. “We need not even respond to it as it was done without informing the government, he said.
K. V. Thomas, former Union Minister, had said in a communication that the suggestion to rename Kochi Metro Rail Ltd should be rejected. In a letter sent to the Chief Minister, he said that officials, who “lacked” an understanding about the historical importance of Kochi, “may now come up with a proposal to change the name of Kochi international airport.”
“The word Kochi holds a legacy of its own in Kerala’s cultural history”, he said.
The issue turned into a controversy after Hibi Eden, MP, wrote a letter to the Chief Minister stating that no decision on the name change should be taken without consensus and demanded that the existing name be retained. He described the initiative by KMRL managing director Loknath Behera as “strange and unacceptable”.
“Using KMRL’s expertise for planning and executing urban transport projects across the State is a matter of pride, but it should be done without altering the company’s name. The assessment that the existing name is not suitable for KMRL’s expanding operational area is misplaced. Forcing an arbitrary decision without historical perspective on a matter that calls for attentiveness is unacceptable,” Mr. Eden said in a statement issued on Thursday.
He said there was “no need for a premature name change” in anticipation of future metro projects. If demands for separate names linked to specific locations arise in the future, they could be considered then, he added.
Merely a proposal: Behera
Mr. Behera had clarified that it was merely a proposal and that the prerogative to accept or reject it lay with the State government.
“The proposal was made in light of the metro policy, which requires a single, common name when multiple metro projects come up in the same State. There are precedents in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Since we are finalising a detailed project report for the proposed metro project in Thiruvananthapuram, and with the State having received its new name, Keralam, it was felt that a name change was timely. However, if the government says no, the matter ends there,” he said.
Published – August 21, 2026 02:01 pm IST
