IRSDC to get Rs. 600-cr loan to develop 3 stations.

The Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) — the nodal agency for redeveloping stations — is likely to get a loan of Rs. 600 crore from the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC). These funds will be used to modernise Anand Vihar, Bijwasan and Chandigarh stations on an engineering procurement contract (EPC) basis. Work on the project will start by the end of this month.

IRSDC requires Rs. 7,500 crore to develop 50 railway stations. It is working on various modes to develop them. When it awards the stations to various developers, the present contracts will continue, according to Vishwesh Choubey, Member-Engineering, Railway Board.

The PSUs — RITES, Engineering Projects (India) Limited, Bridge and Roof Company (India), Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants (India) Ltd, and National Project Construction Corporation — have been awarded 43 stations for deciding the architect, and plan for the development. IRSDC has done this to utilise the expertise of various public sector enterprise.

The stations for development were decided on the basis of a study by Boston Consulting Group, which identified the feasible stations.

“We will try to get upfront payment for station development, so that we can use the funds for different projects. We will have upfront payment by developers, along with revenue share for stations where there are not much takers for revenue share,” said Sanjeev Kumar Lohia, Managing Director, IRSDC.

IRSDC plans to invite tenders for Nagpur, Baiyappanhalli (Bengaluru), Amritsar, Gwalior and Thakurli stations.

HBL