Capital Debacle? Tenders For New Delhi And Ahmedabad Stations Discharged; To Be Floated Again After Re-valuation

In a major setback to the Railways, the tenders floated for redevelopment of New Delhi and Ahmedabad stations were finally discharged after getting much higher quotations than the estimated cost approved by the Cabinet.

While for New Delhi, it is the third failed attempt, it is the very first attempt for Ahmedabad station which did not fructify.

Since the lowest bidders had quoted a price much exceeding the estimated cost, the only option left is to discharge the tender and float it again taking emerging situations into account, according to the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), the agency responsible for executing the redevelopment project.

Tenders for the redevelopment of New Delhi and Ahmedabad stations would be floated again after the revaluation of the two projects taking all factors into account, RLDA maintains.

For New Delhi, the Railways has got all due permissions from the land-owning agency, civic authorities, and city government which were a major hurdle for the  project.

After two unsuccessful attempts in 2001-02 and 2008-09, the Railways had finally succeeded in getting the flagship initiative of redevelopment plan of New Delhi station on track after Cabinet’s approval of the project.

In September 2022, the Union Cabinet sanctioned Rs 10,000 crore for the redevelopment of three major railway stations — New Delhi, Ahmedabad, and CSMT in Mumbai.

While Rs 5,000 crore was meant for the New Delhi station, around Rs 2,000 crore was earmarked for CSMT and Rs 3,000 crore for the Ahmedabad station.

Indian infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has emerged as the lowest bidder quoting Rs 8,740 crore for the re-development of New Delhi railway station, exceeding the Indian Railways estimate of Rs 5,000 crore.

Only two firms — L& T and Shapoorji Pallonji — submitted the bids for the New Delhi station redevelopment project last month.

After technical evaluation, the financial bid was opened by the RLDA and L&T was declared to be the lowest bidder.

Construction giant, Afcons Infrastructure Limited, had emerged as the lowest bidder for Ahmedabad station redevelopment project as the company quoted Rs 5,355 crore, as against the Indian Railways' estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore.

After New Delhi station, the RLDA opened financial bids for the Ahmedabad Railway station project on April 10 and found that all three bidders have quoted over Rs 5,000 crore, exceeding the estimated cost.

While Afcons quoted Rs 5,355 crore, NCC quoted Rs 5,694 crore and L&T quoted Rs 5,770 crore.

The redevelopment project is part of the Centre’s plan to modernise most high-density stations, to ease passenger movement and improve the business prospects of these assets.

The mega project involves replacing the existing structure with a twin dome-shaped facade at New Delhi station.

Once completed, it would be an iconic structure to be identified with the Capital city of India.

The project would be executed on the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) model and has attracted interest from various national and international stakeholders.

The redevelopment project is expected to play an instrumental role in augmenting the local economy, generating employment opportunities and boosting the tourism potential of Delhi-NCR.

The New Delhi station handles 400 trains per day with about 4,50,000 footfalls daily.

New Delhi Railway Station is the terminal station for most rail routes going towards East and South. The station is connected to New Delhi-Mumbai Main Line, New Delhi-Chennai Main Line, and Howrah-Gaya-Delhi Line.

The station serves as the main hub for the Rajdhani Express and is both the starting and ending point of the Shatabdi Express.

The Ahmedabad station redevelopment project envisages a new city centre at the station by integrating both sides of the city through an elevated road network and through multi-modal integration of bullet train, metro, BRT and the railway station.

The design of redeveloped Ahmedabad station has been inspired by the iconic Modhera Sun Temple in Gujarat. The redeveloped station will be built as an iconic new architecture with distinctive towers towards Kalupur side — to become a new landmark for the city of Ahmedabad.

In order to decongest the roads near the station, a 13 km lane of elevated road network all-around has been planned.

A 15-acre roof plaza has been planned over the railway tracks which shall be the waiting area for the passengers — where all facilities like toilets, drinking water, retail kiosk, baby care rooms etc shall be available.

The roof plaza shall also integrate the railway station with the bullet train station, metro station, as well as BRT corridor, city buses and taxis.

The station redevelopment programme is a flagship programme of the government of India. The re-development project will be carried out in the engineering, procurement, and construction mode.

RLDA, a statutory authority under the Ministry of Railways, has been entrusted with the task of redevelopment of many iconic stations.

The station redevelopment projects are intrinsically linked to urban rejuvenation.

The projects will also lead to a multiplier effect on the local economy to boost retail, real estate and tourism sectors and generate employment opportunities.