GMR, Adani And Arabian Construction Among Others Enter Race For New Delhi Railway Station Redevelopment Project

In a positive response, nine major players including GMR, Arabian Construction and Adani have come forward to participate in the Rs 6500 crore New Delhi station redevelopment project amid the Covid situation.

With concerted efforts involving road shows of the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) to woo reputed companies, reputed global and domestic companies have shown interest in the ambitious real estate project.

RLDA has opened RFQ bids for the redevelopment of New Delhi Railway Station which has received overwhelming response from national and international players.

"We are pleased for the fact that our efforts have borne results with nine big players participating in the RFQ. These companies will now undergo technical evaluation," RLDA Vice-Chairman Ved Prakash Dudeja told Swarajya.

About 20 companies participated in the first pre-bid meeting, of which nine have submitted Request for Qualification.

RLDA has planned a mix of retail, office and hospitality developments in a 30-acre area near Connaught Place which will help the Indian Railways in redeveloping the New Delhi railway station.

In the next stage, RLDA will float the Request for Proposal (RFP) for selected participants who get qualified in the technical process. The
development follows the pre-bid meetings and virtual roadshows that apprised the stakeholders of various developments and elicited feedback on the project.

It will incur capital expenditure of around USD 680 million and will be developed on a 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. The project will be instrumental in augmenting the local economy, generating employment opportunities and boosting the tourism potential of Delhi-NCR, ensuring Inclusive Development for Aspirational India," said Ved Parkash Dudeja, Vice-Chairman, RLDA.

Pedestrian movement, cycle tracks, green tracks and non-motorised vehicles have been integrated into the proposed development plan.

The station will be developed to ensure multi-modal transport integration and development. It is connected to the IGI Airport through the Airport Express Line Metro and with Delhi NCR via Yellow Line of Delhi Metro.

DTC bus stops lie on both sides of the station.

The station 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 railway stations across India will be redeveloped on a PPP Model as
a part of Smart City Projects launched by the Government of India.

The Station Development programme is being closely monitored by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.

Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Railways, for the development of vacant Railway land. It has four key mandates as a part of development i) Leasing of commercial sites ii) Colony redevelopment iii) Station redevelopment and iv) commercial development.

RLDA has over 84 commercial (greenfield) sites across India for leasing, and the eligible developers for each will be selected through an open and transparent bid process.

RLDA is currently also handling 84 railway colony redevelopment projects and has recently leased out a railway colony in Guwahati for redevelopment.