Indian Railways’ Tirupati railway station which is located in Andhra Pradesh is soon going to be developed into a smart station.
Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has conducted online pre-bid meetings for the redevelopment of Tirupati Railway Station. This redevelopment project is in line with ‘Smart Cities Mission’ and aim at making Tirupati and Nellore Multi-Modal Transit Hubs endowed with state-of-the-art amenities, including differently- abled-friendly access ramps and elevators and green building features such as rainwater harvesting and solar energy generation.
The pre-bid meeting for the development of the Tirupati railway station witnessed participation from 25-30 prominent firms such as GMR, Oberoi, Ambience, Adani Group, Godrej Properties, Reliance Infra, Sobha, Brigade, Embassy Group among others. The total cost of the project is estimated to ₹ 510 crore for development of Tirupati railway station. The tender will be opened by mid-June 2020.
The Online Pre-Bid Meeting has been conducted after RLDA floated an RFP (Request for Proposal) inviting bids for the selection of a suitable public or private entity for re-development Tirupati railway stations.
Tirupati which is designated as the ‘Best Heritage City’, is located in the Chittor district of Andhra Pradesh. It is well connected to other parts of India by road, rail land and airways. The area is also a renowned religious destination and home to the famous Vaishnavite shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple.
The station will be redeveloped on a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) mode on Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Transfer (DBFOT) model. They will have operational areas like administrative areas, miscellaneous technical area, security and station operation staff areas besides world-class amenities for passengers such as shopping, hospitality, food court, cloakroom, dormitories and executive lounges. The Tirupati railway station is targeted to be redeveloped in 3 years.
“Amidst the lockdown induced by covid-19, we conducted online pre-bid meetings for both Nellore and Tirupati successfully. This is in line with our commitment to ensure seamless operations during this unprecedented time. We have also started opening online tenders also,” said Shri Ved Parkash Dudeja, Vice- Chairman, Railway Land Development Authority.
“Both cities possess a rich cultural heritage and are home to various educational institutions. The proposed redevelopment of their stations will facilitate commercial development, generate employment opportunities, and boost the tourism potential of both regions,” he added.
The agencies will be evaluated through a two-stage process. The winner will be required to upgrade and redevelop stations in line with recommendations of various stakeholders as well as operate and maintain them. It will be also responsible for executing a comprehensive mobility plan within project land after field study to ensure free and un-obstructive movements of various modes of transport (i.e., railway, city bus, auto, taxi, non-motorized vehicles.) and pedestrians.
The Nellore project comprises 3 vacant Railway land parcels of total area 4.16 acre that will be used for commercial development as well as generating revenues by the developer. In case of Tirupati, the 3-acre vacant Railway land parcel which forms a part of this project will be used for the said purpose.
The concession period for both projects under Concession Agreement is 60 years which implies that Concessionaire must operate and maintain the Railway station buildings and estate for 60 years.
A total of 62 railway stations across India will be re-developed by RLDA on a PPP model as a part of Smart City Projects launched by the government of India. The entire cost of re-development will be met by leveraging commercial development of spare railway land/airspace in and around the station.
Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Railways, for the development of vacant Railway land for commercial use in line with the objective to generate revenue by non-tariff measures. Currently, the Indian Railway has approximately 43,000 hectares of vacant land across India.