Nine major global and domestic companies including GMR Highways, Adani Railways and realtor Omaxe are in the race to bag the redevelopment project of New Delhi railway station entailing an investment of around Rs 6,500 crore.
Worth mentioning here is that Mumbai’s Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and the capital’s main railway station are among the most prominent asset monetisation and railway modernisation programme being undertaken by the Centre.
Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), which has been tasked to undertake the redevelopment, said BIF IV India Infrastructure Holding, ISQ Asia Infrastructure Investments, Anchorage Infrastructure Investments, Kalpataru Power Transmission, Arabian Construction Company and Elpis Ventures have also participated in the technical bidding for the station, the Times of India mentioned in a report.
New Delhi Railway Station Redevelopment is a flagship project of the RLDA, and the first to be undertaken on the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) concept in Delhi-NCR. It will be developed on a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) model.
The project offers multiple revenue streams to the developer, including revenue from real estate rights and is slated to be completed in around four years. The concession period is for 60 years.
“The redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway Station is our flagship project that will stimulate economic development of NCR. The project attracted interest from various national and international stakeholders,” news agency PTI quoted Ved Parkash Dudeja, Vice Chairman, RLDA as saying.
“It will be instrumental in augmenting the local economy, generating employment opportunities and boosting tourism potential of Delhi-NCR, ensuring Inclusive Development for Aspirational India,” he said.
The New Delhi Railway Station will be redeveloped into a world-class station in line with global standards with dome-shaped terminal buildings and two arrival and departure areas at the concourse level. It will also have two multi-modal transport hubs on every side, 40-floor high-rise twin towers (with hotel/offices and retail at podium) and pedestrian boulevard with high-street shopping outlets.
Pedestrian movement, cycle tracks, and green tracks have been integrated into the proposed development plan as well.
The station will be connected to the IGI Airport through the Airport Express Line Metro and with Delhi-NCR via the Yellow Line of Delhi Metro. DTC bus stops lie on both sides of the station. It has a master plan area of 120 hectares, out of which 88 hectares is being planned in phase 1 of the project.
RLDA is the approving authority for the Master Plan. To expedite the approvals and clearances, an Apex Committee under the chairmanship of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi has also been constituted. The authority is currently working on 62 stations in a phased manner while its subsidiary, IRSDC has taken up another 61 stations.
In the first phase, RLDA has prioritised prominent stations like New Delhi, Tirupati, Dehradun, Nellore, and Puducherry for redevelopment.
