Posting photos on Twitter, Piyush Goyal wrote, "Envisaging an enriched passenger experience with complete integration of different modes of transport, take a look at the future of New Delhi Railway Station."
The Rail Land Development Authority has invited online bids from private players to redevelop the station into an integrated commercial, retail, and hospitality hub.
With a view to exploit its real estate assets, the Indian Railways plans to lease out some of them and aims to rake-in Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) through this move this fiscal, a senior Railways official said.
The sites selected for commercial development in the first phase are in Delhi, Kanpur, Gwalior, Vishakhapatnam, Kolkata and Bangalore.There are about 700 acres of railway land in 107 sites across the country, which have been shortlisted for commercial development on public private partnership (PPP) basis.
A consultant is being appointed to work out the details of the project.
The land development arm of the railways has cut the reserve price for a 45,371 square metre plot at Bandra, a Mumbai suburb, by nearly 14.5 per cent, to Rs 39.60 billion and reduced the minimum networth requirement for bidders by a similar margin. It has also reduced the bid security amount by 20 per cent. This apart, the authority has more than doubled the payment period to five years.
Though letter of allotments of land were issued to a few hotel chains like Royal Orchid and Signet Hotels for 20 sites last year, land could not be transferred due to the objections raised by the Rail Land Development Authority. The hotel plan was unfolded by the IRCTC in 2006 and accordingly 100 railway sites were selected for setting up budget hotels on public private partnership model.
The past appears to have interrupted the future of the New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS). With two protected heritage buildings sitting in the way of the plan to redevelop the railway station, officials in the know say the project may end up back on the drawing board since the National Monuments Authority (NMA), the body tasked with the protection and preservation of monuments and sites, is yet to give its approval. "A nod from NMA is awaited before going into the next phase of bids for the redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway Station," a senior official of the Ministry of Railways told Business Standard. While the Railways ministry is hopeful of getting approvals from the NMA before the end of the current financial year, there is no clarity on this yet.
Shankar Prajapati, a 57-year-old potter in Dharavi, has given up hope of getting a bigger house for his family. He lives cheek by jowl in a hutment measuring 200 square (sq.) feet (ft) in the nondescript shanty town. "We have surrendered to our fate. We cannot wait forever for better accommodation. "Perhaps we are not meant to dream big," despairs Prajapati. Raju Korde, president, Dharavi Redevelopment Committee, and a local resident, agrees with Prajapati.
RLDA is a statutory authority established by the ministry of railways for generating non-fare revenue from railway land.
Fifteen stations might be taken up in the first stage with an investment of Rs 6,000-7,000 crore.
In a significant development, Indian Railways on Thursday joined hands with China to increase speed in its existing rail network, modernise stations and enhance mutual cooperation in the sector in the country.
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