17.7.15
Redevelopment of 400 Railway Stations Likely
In a major push to railways' PPP effort, the Cabinet cleared redevelopment of 400 railway stations on 'as is where is' basis, offering flexibility of execution to interested parties in terms of design and business ideas, including permitting commercial development of real estate by the zonal railways.
The interested investor would be free to choose the station from among the 400 stations in A1 and A categories on offer. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said the decision will encourage innovative ideas from interested parties at no cost to the railways.
Earlier, the railways had offered a limited number of stations to be developed under the PPP method but failed to elicit the required response. Then it went to Cabinet with the new model which was cleared on Thursday .
The stations are categorised in terms of traffic that flows from there. The A1 and A category stations are generally located in metros, major cities, pilgrimage centres and important tourist destinations. Lauding the decision, railway minister Suresh Prabhu said this will help to create railways as a growth centre. “This move is a very big step towards passenger service, modernisation and job creation,“ he said.
The minister explained that the stations will be offered for redevelopment under the Swiss Challenge method, that is, by inviting open bids from interested parties. “E-bidding process leaves no discretion...it will be a very transparent method. All bids will be done only through web-based bidding process, it will see evaluation by independent experts,“ the minister tweeted about the decision.
The stations would be developed by leveraging real estate development of land and air space in and around the stations. “It is a very flexible method and offers great opportunities in terms of using railway land for commercial development.
It could be in terms of a hotel, restaurants, and advertisement hoardings.There is immense potential in this,“ a senior railway officer explained. Prabhu, in his budget speech had promised airport-like railway stations and this was the first step towards fulfilling it.“We are working on all of my Budget announcements, several of them have been implemented fully ,“ he said.
The interested investor would be free to choose the station from among the 400 stations in A1 and A categories on offer. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said the decision will encourage innovative ideas from interested parties at no cost to the railways.
Earlier, the railways had offered a limited number of stations to be developed under the PPP method but failed to elicit the required response. Then it went to Cabinet with the new model which was cleared on Thursday .
The stations are categorised in terms of traffic that flows from there. The A1 and A category stations are generally located in metros, major cities, pilgrimage centres and important tourist destinations. Lauding the decision, railway minister Suresh Prabhu said this will help to create railways as a growth centre. “This move is a very big step towards passenger service, modernisation and job creation,“ he said.
The minister explained that the stations will be offered for redevelopment under the Swiss Challenge method, that is, by inviting open bids from interested parties. “E-bidding process leaves no discretion...it will be a very transparent method. All bids will be done only through web-based bidding process, it will see evaluation by independent experts,“ the minister tweeted about the decision.
The stations would be developed by leveraging real estate development of land and air space in and around the stations. “It is a very flexible method and offers great opportunities in terms of using railway land for commercial development.
It could be in terms of a hotel, restaurants, and advertisement hoardings.There is immense potential in this,“ a senior railway officer explained. Prabhu, in his budget speech had promised airport-like railway stations and this was the first step towards fulfilling it.“We are working on all of my Budget announcements, several of them have been implemented fully ,“ he said.
Delhi's eastern peripheral expressway cleared
The government has approved six-laning of the eastern peripheral expressway, paving the way for decongesting the roads of Delhi and curbing the menace of pollution.
The project will cost Rs.7,558 crore, including Rs.1,795 crore for land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation, and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the expressway is about 135 km and the project will be executed under the engineering, procurement and construction mode, which means the government will bear the cost.
The expressway will form a peripheral road around Delhi, so that the traffic that is not destined for the city does not pass through it, a government statement said. “This avoids congestion and pollution,“ it said.
The alignment of the express way is therefore away from areas of habitation.
The primary objective of the expressway is to fast-track the improvement of infrastructure in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The expressway will be seeking bids for six packages of length ranging between 21 and 24 km.
The development of the expressway will help in uplifting the socio-economic condition of the concerned regions of the states and also increase employment potential for local labourers for project activities, the statement said.
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