Railway Ministry gets good response from private players for station redevelopment project

The Ministry of Railways has received 32 applications from private players for the redevelopment of four important railway stations across the country. The Request for Qualification (RFQs) for the redevelopment of Nagpur, Gwalior, Amritsar and Sabarmati railway stations on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) took place on Friday.

Of the total 32, maximum number of nine applications were received for Sabarmati railway station. JKB, GMR, ISQ Capital, Kalpataru, FairFax/Anchorage, Monte Carlo, GR Infrastructure, Kalyan Toll, Cube Construction are some of the names from whom applications have been received.

With a view to redevelop the four railway stations and transform them into iconic city centres, Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Ltd. (IRSDC) invited RFQs in December 2019. On Friday, the IRSDC opened the RFQ applications of these four railway stations.

The applicants include two ‘funds’ also apart from reputed developers. The total indicative cost for the redevelopment of the four stations is about Rs 1,300 crore. The total built-up area (BUA) allowed for commercial development is 54 lakh sq ft. 

No land-use change and prior environmental clearance is required for these projects as these are Railway projects under Railway Act 1989. IRSDC is the nodal agency for the redevelopment of stations.

After shortlisting the applicants, Request for Proposal will be called in which bids will be submitted by the bidders. It is likely that the work will start soon for all the projects.