Vacant Railway Land In Bengal, Assam Up For Lease, Redevelopment

The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has invited bids for leasing vacant railway land at Salt Golah, Howrah, in West Bengal and for leasing of a vacant land parcel for residential-cum-commercial development at Ambari chowk in Guwahati, Assam.

The site in Howrah spans an area of 88,300 sqm and is located on a 20-metre-wide highway along the Hooghly riverbank, at a distance of 1.5 km from Howrah station.

It is well connected through road and river transport.

The built-up area offered is 2,64,900 sqm and the land parcel is proposed to be leased out for 99 years with a reserve price of Rs 448 crore. The pre-bid meeting was held earlier this month on July 7 and saw a good response from national and local developers.

The site is surrounded by Golabari Ghat and Ratnakar School in the north, Signal Workshop and Railway Printing Press of Eastern Railway in the south, River Hooghly in the east and Salkia School Road in the west.

"Howrah is a vibrant commercial hub of West Bengal. The railway land parcel at Salt Golah, Howrah, can be used for residential-cum-commercial development. Water sports facilities can also be developed here. It will not only put the land to better use but also boost real estate and lead to socio-economic development in the region, creating a lot of employment opportunities,” said RLDA Vice-Chairman Ved Parkash Dudeja.

The lessee will be given controlled and regulated marketing rights and will be mandated to develop the site within 10 years.

The site is located in the city of Howrah that lies on the western bank of River Hooghly.

Howrah is an important transportation hub of West Bengal and a gateway to Kolkata. Often referred to as Sheffield of the East, Howrah is home to several light engineering industries.

The city is also famous for salt godowns. It is accessible through rail, river, air and road networks.

Guwahati

The land parcel in Guwahati spans 9,488.22 sqm and is situated in the heart of the city, at a prominent corner location of Ambari Chowk, about 1.30 km from Guwahati railway station.

It has a potential built-up-area of 26,092.61 sqm and has a reserve price of Rs 69.90 crore for a lease term of 99 years. The online pre-bid conference conducted by RLDA on June 25 had 13 local and national developers participating in the meeting.

The deadline for submission of e-bids is August 6, 2021.

RLDA is a statutory authority under the Ministry of Railways for the development of Railway land. It has four key mandates as part of its development plan, namely leasing commercial sites, colony redevelopment, station redevelopment and multi-functional complexes.

Indian Railways has approximately 43,000 hectares of vacant land across India. RLDA is currently handling 84 railway colony redevelopment projects and has recently leased out three railway colonies in Guwahati and Secunderabad for redevelopment.

RLDA has over 100 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 also currently handling 60 stations in a phased manner while its subsidiary, IRSDC, has taken up another 62 stations. In the first phase, RLDA has prioritised prominent stations like New Delhi, Tirupati, Dehradun, Nellore, Cuttack, Puducherry, Lucknow, Ernakulam and Puri for redevelopment.

The railway stations across India will be redeveloped as part of Smart City projects launched by the Government of India.