Lok Sabha Question No. 446 (STARRED), answered on 2017-04-05
Subject: Renovation of Railway Stations
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: MANOJ KUMAR TIWARI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.446 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.04.2017

## RENOVATION OF RAILWAY STATIONS

*446.  SHRI MANOJ TIWARI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has any plan to renovate all major railway stations in the country including that of Delhi and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether any foreign country's company is providing technical support to renovate any railway station and if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the details of the funds allocated for the purpose?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI SURESH PRABHAKAR PRABHU)

(a) to (c):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF STARRED  QUESTION  NO.446  BY  SHRI  MANOJ  TIWARI  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 05.04.2017 REGARDING RENOVATION OF RAILWAY STATIONS

(a)  to  (c):  Upgradation  of  stations  under  various  developmental schemes  is  an  ongoing  work.  Stations  were  earlier  developed under 'Model' Station Scheme which was in vogue from June' 1999 to November'  2008.  Under this Scheme,  594  stations  were identified  for  development,  of  which  4  stations  were  closed/ dropped and remaining 590 stations have since been developed. 'Modern'  station  scheme  was  in  vogue  from  2006-07  to  2007-08. Under  this  scheme  637  stations  were  selected  for  up-gradation. All these stations have already been developed.

At present, upgradation of stations including, inter-alia, their renovation as per requirement is taken up under 'Adarsh Station' scheme. Selection of railway stations for inclusion under 'Adarsh Station' scheme is based on an identified need for upgradation of amenities at stations, which is a continuous and ongoing process. Adarsh  stations  are  provided  with  various  facilities  such  as drinking water, adequate toilets, catering services, waiting rooms and  dormitories  especially  for  lady  passengers,  better  signage etc.  Till  date,  1253  railway  stations  have  been  identified  under 'Adarsh Station' scheme of which 1022 stations have already been developed.  More  stations  may  be  considered  for  inclusion  under 'Adarsh  Station'  scheme  whenever  there  is  any  proposal  for further selection of more stations under this scheme based on the relative  importance  of  the  station  and  justification  based  on passengers handled at the station.

As regards, allocation of funds for the stations identified for development  under  the  'Adarsh  Station  Scheme',  no  separate funds  are  allocated  for  development  of  Adarsh  stations.    These stations  are  developed  under  the  funds  allocated  for  the  Plan Head  -  'Passenger  Amenities',  under  which  funds  of  Rs.  1100 crores have been allocated during current financial year.

While the development of identified stations under 'Adarsh' Station Scheme continues, Indian Railways has also advertised its plan  to  offer  'A-1'  and  'A'  category  stations  (about  400  stations) including  Delhi,  which  are  generally  located  in  major  cities  and important  tourist  destinations,  on  'as  is  where  is'  basis  for redevelopment by inviting proposals from interested parties with their  designs  and  business  ideas.  The  entire  cost  of  station redevelopment is to be met by leveraging commercial development  of  spare  railway  land/air  space  in  and  around  the station. The process is designed to be completely transparent and obtain best in class designs from the Developer. The program is conceived to be cash-neutral to the Railways, rather it is expected  to  yield  earnings  for  the  Railways  in  the  form  of premium submitted by the Developers. Therefore, railways funds are generally not required for this program.

## Major components of station redevelopment

-  Redevelopment  of  station  building  to  provide  an  iconic structure with modern state-of-the-art facilities.
-  Congestion  free  non-conflicting  entry/exit  to  the  station premises.
-  Segregation of arrival/departure of passengers- No conflict between incoming and outgoing passengers.
-  Adequate concourse without overcrowdinggenerally above the platforms/lines.
-  All essential facilities at concourse- catering, small retail, wash rooms, cloak rooms, drinking water, ATM, pharmacy, internet, etc.
-  Integration  with  other  modes  of  public/private  transport systems e.g. Bus, Metro, etc.
-  Integrating  both  sides  of  the  city,  i.e.  entry/  exit  on  both sides of the station wherever site conditions permits.
-  No parcel movement across the length of platforms.
-  User  friendly  international  signage  understandable  by  all sections of passengers.
-  Additional facilities  like  retail,  shopping,  hospitality,  food courts etc.
-  Medical facilities including polyclinics.
-  Well  illuminated  circulating  area  and  sufficient  provision for drop off, pick up and parking.
-  Green Buildings, with optimum use of natural ventilation & lighting.
-  Business Centre.
-  Skill Development Centre.
- 
- Social Infrastructure.
-  The commercial use of land with lease period of land and airspace for 45 years.

A  unique  method  is  developed  for  selection  of  developer through  open  bid  process  in  a  transparent  manner  by  involving private  experts  alongwith  railway officials in the evaluation process. A set of standard bidding documents comprising Station Development Agreement, Station Facility Management Agreement,  Bid  document  and  invitation  document  have  been approved by Railway Board. These special documents had  been developed and feedback of the stakeholders was invited in May' 2016.  Several  rounds  of  interactions  have  been  done  with  the industry partners from Developer, investor and consultancy Firms both  of  the  country  and  abroad.  Based  upon  the  feedback received from such interactions and otherwise, the tender documents have been amended and finalized.

The  General  Managers  of  the  Zonal  Railways  have  been authorized to implement the process.

The  overall strategy for  the  program  was  prepared  in consultation  of  one  of  the  world's  best  consulting  agency  i.e. Boston Consulting Group (BCG), who were again appointed by a transparent  tendering  process.  In  order  to  attract  best  bidders and  developers  for  the  redevelopment  of  stations,  road  shows were conducted in various cities of India such as Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata etc. and abroad like Malaysia and Abu Dhabi, where the interest was expressed.

As  per  the  strategy  finalised,  bids  for 23  stations  viz. Allahabad,  Bandra  Terminus,  Bangalore  Cantt.,  Bhopal,  Borivali, Chennai Central, Faridabad, Howrah, Indore, Jammu Tawi, Kamakhya, Kanpur Central, Kozhikode, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai  Central,  Pune,  Ranchi,  Secunderabad,  Thane,  Udaipur City,  Vijayawada,  Visakhapatnam  and  Yashwantpur  have  been invited in the first phase. These stations are located in 13 States and  13  Zonal  Railways.  Pre-bid  conferences  have  been  held  in case of 14 stations and for balance 9 stations pre bid meetings are planned during the month of April, 2017.  Bids for first stage in respect of all 23 stations are due for opening in May end and in June, 2017.

States have been requested to cooperate and expedite the clearances  related  with  station  redevelopment  through  a  letter from Minister of Railways to Chief Ministers of all the States. To help  the  officers  of  the  Zonal  Railways  to  handle  this  unique program, measures have been taken to enhance their skills and capabilities.  Three  workshops  with  zonal  railways  were  held  in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. In addition, they have been provided with  experienced  Transaction  Advisors  to  help  them  in  the tendering and evaluation process for 48 stations.

Besides the above, the Indian Railways Stations Development  Corporation  (IRSDC),  a  Joint  Venture  of  Rail  Land Development  Authority  (RLDA)  and  Ircon  International  Limited (IRCON) has also been engaged in the work of redevelopment of railway  stations  by  leveraging  the  commercial  potential  of  the spare railway land and air space.  12 stations viz. Amritsar, Anand Vihar (Delhi), Bijwasan (Delhi), Baiyappanahalli (Bengaluru), Chandigarh, Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Gandhinagar (Jaipur), Gwalior, Habibganj, Nagpur, Surat & Shivajinagar (Pune) had been entrusted  to  IRSDC  through  RLDA  for  redevelopment.  In  their efforts  to  redevelop  the  stations,  the  IRSDC  has hired  Technical cum Architectural Consultants and Financial Consultants for the stations.  Master  Plans  have  been  developed  for  Anand  Vihar (Delhi), Bijwasan (Delhi), Chandigarh, Gandhinagar (Gujarat), Habibganj, Surat & Shivajinagar (Pune) railway stations.

Due to sustained efforts made by IRSDC, Developer has been fixed  for  redevelopment  of  Habibganj  railway  station  and  the Development Agreement for this has been signed on 14.07.2016. Station  redevelopment  is  of  approximate  value  of ₹ 100  Cr  and total  value  of  development  is  anticipated  as ₹ 450  Cr  including commercial  development.    Financial  closure  of  the  project  has been achieved. Existing earning contracts are novated in favour of the Developer and subsequently Developer has started his works and the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the station facilities have also been taken over by the Developer on 01.03.2017.

A special purpose vehicle is formed by IRSDC with Government of  Gujarat  (GoG)  with  equity  contribution  as  24%  that  of  IRSDC and  76%  of  GOG.  The  SPV  is  developing  Gandhinagar  station having  architecture  in  harmony  with  adjoining  Mahatma  Mandir and Gandhi Kuteer. The SPV shall be responsible for Operation & Maintenance of station, hotel and will have revenue streams from Mahatma Mandir  and  Gandhi  Kuteer  as  well.    A  works  contract (approx ₹ 147  Cr)  for  redevelopment  of  Gandhinagar  (Gujarat) station  along  with  construction  of  a  300  room  hotel  on  the  air space of the station has been awarded. The foundation stone for this work has been laid by Hon'ble Prime Minister on 09.01.2017.

In  a  very  innovative and first-of-its-kind model, MOU has been signed between  IRSDC,  Gujarat State Transport Corporation (GSRTC) and Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) for development of a Multi Modal Transport Hub at Surat with equity contribution as land in the ratio of 63:34:3 with total land as 2.5 lakh square meter.  The land parcels of the Railways, the GSRTC and the SMC have  been  pooled  and  a  grand  Multi  Modal  Transport  Hub  has been conceptualised around the Surat Railway station to provide the integrated transport solutions for the citizens thereby synergising the core capabilities of the three forms of Government viz. The Central Govt. (Ministry of Railways), State Govt. (GSRTC) and  the  Urban  Local  Govt.  (SMC).  The  cost  of  Multi  Modal Transport Hub is anticipated as ₹ 645 Cr and gross development is anticipated  to  be  of  approximately ₹ 3000  Cr.  The  Request  for Qualification (RFQ) proposals for the project has been opened on 03.03.2017 wherein 9 bidders have participated.

After  detailed  study  and  preparation  of  the  Detailed  Project Reports,  RFQ  for  redevelopment  of  Anand  Vihar  (Delhi)  and Bijwasan (Delhi) stations have been finalized and bidders shortlisted.  Request  for  Financial  Proposal  (RFP)  proposals  have been called from shortlisted bidders viz. 13 for Anand Vihar and 8 for Bijwasan stations and are due for opening on 25.04.2017 and 20.04.2017 respectively. The mandatory Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) of station development is ₹ 255 Cr for Anand Vihar (Delhi) with  total  anticipated  development  of ₹ 600Cr  and  for  Bijwasan (Delhi) mandatory CAPEX is ₹ 384 Cr and total development value as ₹ 1000 Cr.

A  large  number  of  Foreign  Railways  have  shown  keen interest in the stations redevelopment program and an agreement has been signed with the French Railway (SNCF) for joint study on Renovation  Concept  Design  of  Ambala  and  Ludhiana  stations. Korean railway has also expressed interest in the redevelopment of New Delhi Station. The process of Government-to-Government cooperation  for  redevelopment  of  New  Delhi  Station  has  been started.  Governments  of  Belgium,  Germany,  China  and  UK  have also expressed interest in the program of station redevelopment.

An MOU has been entered into between Ministry of Railways (MoR)  and  Ministry  of  Urban  Development  (MOUD)  for  mutual cooperation between the two Ministries for integrated planning of redevelopment  of  railway  stations  in  the  cities  included  in  the 'SMART  Cities'  and  Atal  Mission  for  Rejuvenation  and  Urban Transformation  (AMRUT)  scheme.  The  proposal  is  to  plan  the redevelopment of stations in partnership with the smart city SPVs and/or Urban Local Bodies so that the planning and redevelopment of  the  station  and  the  city  areas  near  the  station  is  done  in  an integrated  manner.  The  implementation  of  this  may  be  planned with JV with Urban local bodies. Towards this end, the finalization of an MOU  between RLDA, National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) and respective Smart City SPV for implementation of station redevelopment projects for 10 stations has been taken up.

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