Adani, GMR among 20 firms keen on rebuilding New Delhi railway station

The Rail Land Development Authority has invited online bids from private players to redevelop the station into an integrated commercial, retail, and hospitality hub.

At least 20 national and international firms, including Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français, Arabian Construction Company, Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings, Adani, GMR, and JKB Infrastucture, have evinced an interest in the redevelopment work of New Delhi railway station.

The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has invited online bids from private players to redevelop the station into an integrated commercial, retail, and hospitality hub.

The objective of this ambitious project is to position the station as a multi-modal hub through overhauling of infrastructure and provision of state-of-the-art amenities, such as an elevated concourse and multi-level car parking.

The project will be developed on a design-build-finance-operate-transfer model for a concession period of 60 years.

It is expected to incur a capital expenditure of around Rs 6,500 crore and is slated to be completed in four years.

“The redevelopment of New Delhi railway station has attracted interest from leading global firms.

"The project aims to transform New Delhi railway station into a world-class transit hub, in line with Prime Minister’s vision of New India.

"This station will be a one-stop destination for retail, commercial, and hospitality.

"It will also boost real estate and ensure cascading development of New Delhi and surrounding regions,” said Ved Parkash Dudeja, vice-chairman, RLDA.

The concessionaire will earn revenue from several components, including passenger handling fees collected via ticket sales, revenue from passenger facilities within the station, such as retail areas, lounges, parking, advertisement spaces, and income from the development and lease of commercial components.

The phased redevelopment encompasses station redevelopment, development of associated infrastructure, relocation of social infrastructure as well as the refurbishment of railway offices and railway quarters.

Food courts and restrooms, an elevated concourse with segregation of arriving and departing passengers, refurbished platforms with easy access from the concourse level, mezzanine level exclusively for passenger facilities such as lounges, an elevated road network with multiple entry and exit points, a multi-level car parking facility, and green building provisions, such as optimum use of natural ventilation and lighting, will be some of the key highlights of the redeveloped station.

The station is the largest and second busiest in the country and handles approximately 450,000 passengers daily (approximately 160-170 million passengers annually).

It also handles 400 trains per day, which are expected to increase due to higher operational efficiencies resulting from the redevelopment and better yard utilisation.

RLDA is currently working on 62 stations in a phased manner, while its subsidiary, Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation, has taken up another 61 stations.

In the first phase, RLDA has prioritised prominent stations like New Delhi, Tirupati, Dehradun, Nellore, and Puducherry for redevelopment.

Railway stations across India will be redeveloped on a public-private partnership model as part of the smart city project launched by the central government.

Photograph: PTi Photo