France’s state-owned railway company SNCF, the GMR Group and the Adani Group are among 20 entities that have shown interest in redeveloping the New Delhi railway station into a world-class multimodal hub. At a pre-bid meeting on Tuesday, around 20 national and international firms — such as the SNCF, the Arabian Construction Company, the GMR, the Adani Group, the JKB Infra, Anchorage Infrastructure — participated.
The project, being implemented by the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), is estimated to cost Rs 6,500 crore and will be completed in around four years. The redevelopment of New Delhi Railway Station has attracted interest from leading global firms, RLDA Vice Chairman Ved Parkash Dudeja said. The objective of the ambitious project is to position the New Delhi railway station as a multimodal hub through upgradation of the infrastructure and provision of state-of-the-art amenities such as an elevated concourse, a multi-level car parking and much more facilities. The project would be developed on a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) model for a concession period of 60 years. The project aims to transform New Delhi Railway Station into a world-class transit hub, in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of New India. This station will be a one-stop destination for retail, commercial and hospitality. It will also boost real estate and ensure cascading development of New Delhi and surrounding regions, Dudeja said.
The concessionaire will earn revenues from several components including passenger handling fees collected via ticket sales, revenues from passenger facilities within the station such as retail areas, lounges, parking, advertisement spaces, food and beverages, income from the development and lease of the commercial components to name a few, the RLDA said in a statement. The phased exercise encompasses redevelopment of station and associated infrastructure, relocation of social infrastructure as well as the refurbishment of offices and quarters. Other aspects include developing food courts and restrooms, an elevated concourse with segregation for arriving and departing passengers, and refurbished platforms with easy access from the concourse level.
The redevelopment plan also envisions mezzanine level exclusively for passenger facilities such as lounges, an elevated road network with multiple entry and exit points. Green building provisions such as optimum use of natural ventilation and lighting will also be a key highlight of the redeveloped station.
New Delhi Railway Station is the largest and second busiest station in the country and handles approximately 4.5 lakh passengers daily (approximately 160 -170 million passengers annually). The station handles 400 trains per day which are expected to increase due to higher operational efficiencies resulting from the redevelopment and better yard utilization. The RLDA is currently working on 62 stations in a phased manner while its subsidiary, IRSDC has taken up another 61 stations for redevelopment. In the first phase, the RLDA has prioritised prominent stations like New Delhi, Tirupati, Dehradun, Nellore, and Puducherry for redevelopment. Railway stations across the country will be redeveloped on a PPP Model as a part of Smart City Projects launched by the government. The RLDA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Railways for development of vacant railway land for commercial use in line with the objective to generate revenue by non-tariff measures. Currently, the approximately 43,000 hectares of Railways land are lying vacant. The RLDA has over 79 sites across India for leasing and the eligible developers for each will be selected through an open and transparent bid process. The RLDA is currently also handling 84 railway colony redevelopment projects and has recently leased out a railway colony in Guwahati for redevelopment.
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