The Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) is set to float tenders for the re-development of Pune and Shivajinagar stations with an aim to start the actual work this year. AN IRSDC official said the aim of the initiative was to turn these stations into ‘Rail-O-polis’ which will have establishments such as a commercial centre, mall or hotel nearby.
In her Budget Speech the finance minister had referred to the redevelopment of four stations under the public private partnership (PPP) model. IRSDC managing director and chief executive officer S K Lohia said “The RLDA is handling 44 stations and we are redeveloping 60 stations across the country. In some cases, we are jointly doing the work. We will soon float tenders for the re-development project of the Pune and the Shivajinagar stations under the PPP Model. The building of the Pune station is a heritage structure and we will not touch it,”.
“The project doesn’t include land acquisition, as plots belonging to the Railways will be used. But availability of railway land near the stations is a problem. Then there are issues of finding a bidder. So, floating tenders is just not enough. The authorities need to convince the bidders about the project viability,” a source in the Railways privy to the development said.