Secunderabad and Vijayawada Railway Stations selected for Station Redevelopment Project.

Indian Railways is all set to implement a very ambitious plan which will change the face of Railway Stations on its network. The plan, Station Redevelopment Project, a brain child of Narendra Modi, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India to bring about a revamp on Indian Railways system has been given shape by the Minister for Railways, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu and is being launched on 8th February, 2017 at New Delhi.

The Station Re-Development Project is being taken up under the Swiss Challenge method which involves inviting a proposal online and permitting rival bidders to beat that proposal with a more attractive one. In the first phase, 23 railway stations have been selected on Indian Railways for the Re-Development Project launch on 8th February 2017, which include Secunderabad and Vijayawada Railway Stations on South Central Railway.

The plan is basically tuned to the endeavor of Indian Railways to redevelop its railway stations to the best standards by means of leveraging the valuable real estate it holds in terms of land and air space in and around railway stations. Amongst the over 8,000 stations on the system, 400+ stations have been selected for the station redevelopment program basing on the present revenue the stations are generating.

The Station Re-Development Project envisages a huge revamp in infrastructure at the stations including the platforms and the circulating areas to be undertaken by the chosen developer. What is being conceptualized is, development of World Class Stations which can generate surplus revenue on account of their commercial potential, with the surplus money going for modernization of railway stations with no additional funding from the railways side.

The redevelopment of Station will primarily consist of upgrading the level of passenger amenities by new constructions/renovations and include redevelopment of station buildings, platform surfaces, circulating area, etc., to better serve the needs of the passengers. Commercial establishments including Hotels, Multiplexes, and Shopping Malls etc will come up in the land earmarked by the Railways for the use of the developer. In return the developer will hold the rights for commercial exploitation of the land at the station for a period of 45 years, while the ownership of the land remains with the Railways.

The selection of developer involves a Two Stage bidding process to bring in the best-in-class design and capabilities. The technical and financial proposals of potential bidders will be evaluated in the first phase to select the design of the project proponent. Detailed Project Report (DPR) will be created based on the submission of the project proponent and the finalized DPR along with the bidding documents will be released for inviting bids from the market. The first right of refusal will rest with the selected project proponent after evaluation of the bids.

An expert committee has been appointed by the Railway Ministry which will accept the best proposal with the original proposer being given an opportunity to accept the same, if this proposal betters the original one. The balance railway stations identified for Station Re-Development Project will also be bid out in Phase-II and Phase-III later during the year.

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