Adani to bid for Delhi railway station redevelopment

So what if the economy is in a free fall and the coronavirus is raging, the government's priority remains unchanged, the government is busy revamping old heritage structures of the country. After the Central Vista, the government moves ahead with the redevelopment of 123 railway stations in the country. 20 industrialists have shown interest in revamping the New Delhi railway station.

With the Central Vista revamp, the government now prepares to redevelop the New Delhi Railway station. Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has concluded a pre-bid meeting on the redevelopment of the New Delhi railway station.

The meeting witnessed participation by 20 national and international firms such as Socié té Nationale des Chemins de Fer (SNCF), Arabian Construction Company, Anchorage Infrastructure, Adani, GMR, JKB Infra.

The objective of this project is to position the New Delhi Railway station as a multi-modal hub through upgradation of the infrastructure. The government wants to develop the railway station with provision of state-of-the-art amenities such as an elevated concourse, multi-level car parking and much more for the passengers.

The project would be developed on a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) model for a concession period of 60 years.

It is expected to incur capital expenditure of around INR 6,500 crores and is slated to be completed in four years.

RLDA claims that 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.

The concessionaire will earn revenues from several components including passenger handling fees collected from passengers via ticket sales, revenues from passenger facilities within the station such as retail areas, lounges, parking, advertisement spaces, F&B, etc., income from the development and lease of the commercial components to name a few.

The phased redevelopment encompasses station redevelopment, development of associated infrastructure, relocation of social infrastructure as well as the refurbishment of railway offices and railway quarters. Food courts and restrooms, an elevated concourse with segregation of arriving and departing passengers, refurbished platforms with easy access from the concourse level, lounges will be built. RLDA is currently working on 62 stations 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. The railway stations across India will be redeveloped on a PPP Model as a part of Smart City Projects launched by the Government of India.