Indian Railways may break up New Delhi Railway Station redevelopment into smaller tenders

A digital rendering of the New Delhi Railway Station

After four failed attempts to find a suitable bidder, Indian Railways is looking to divide the Rs 4,700 crore tender for the redevelopment of New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS) into multiple smaller tenders to avoid delays in the execution of the project, multiple officials aware of the development told Moneycontrol.

“A proposal to consider breaking the redevelopment of the NDLS project into smaller tenders is being looked at to speed up the bidding so that execution can begin,” a senior official told Moneycontrol.

He added that the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA), under the railway ministry, has already floated a fresh tender for the design, construction, and commissioning of a multi-modal transit hub on the Paharganj side of the station, at an investment of Rs 440 crore.

Also Read: RLDA issues new Rs 4,500 crore tender to revamp New Delhi railway station

The latest tender for the NDLS redevelopment project was withdrawn at the start of February, as there were issues involving the project, including a curved road over the tracks, which could not be resolved, a second senior government official said.

“In order to avoid complications and arrive at better valuations for the redevelopment of the NDLS project, the tender for the project will likely be divided into parts and reissued over the coming months,” the second official said.

In 2023, the RLDA on July 4 2023 had issued a fresh tender worth Rs 4,700 crore for the redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway Station, according to documents seen by Moneycontrol.

According to officials, the biggest challenge in the project will be redeveloping the congested Ajmeri Gate and Paharganj areas, which fall on either side of the station. However, all the land used for the project will be government land.

Indian Railways owns a vast swathe of land near the railway station, which currently has office space for railway staff. According to sources, once office spaces are constructed on the premises, the old offices will be demolished to make way for commercial spaces and a pedestrian boulevard.

Earlier attempts

In the past, the project had run into problems because of lack of coordination between different departments of the government and a multiplicity of authorities in Delhi. Last year the land authority had consulted over a dozen central and state departments and had procured No Objection Certificates from them for the project.

Also Read: What will a revamped New Delhi Station look like? Government tweets proposed design

The last tender was the fourth time that the RLDA had tried to move forward with its ambitious plan to redevelop the railway station. The earlier tender was dismissed in May 2023 as the bidders quoted much higher prices than the allotted cost, multiple company executives told Moneycontrol.

Larsen and Toubro had emerged as the lowest bidder the last time with a bid of Rs 8,740 crore, which was still well over Indian Railways’ estimate of Rs 5,000 crore, sources said.

Massive redevelopment

According to the last tender, issued in July 2023, redevelopment work would have to be undertaken across 3.5 lakh square metres of New Delhi Railway Station, as against the proposed 4.5 lakh square metres suggested in earlier iterations of the tender.

The RLDA had made the last tender an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract instead of a public-private partnership that the government was earlier considering.

Also Read: Redevelopment of New Delhi Railway station to decongest Connaught Place; generate Rs 10,000 crore revenue: RLDA VC Ved Parkash Dudeja

The revamped New Delhi station will cover an expanse of 1.5 crore square metres, with a pedestrian boulevard connecting the station to Connaught Place. The project plans on earning back revenue through the commercial spaces that will be built on the premises.

Multimodal connectivity

According to the new plans, the station is designed to be multimodal and transit-friendly. The aim is to connect the railway station to the airport and the rest of the city seamlessly. The station currently sees a daily footfall of almost 5 lakh people.

The refurbished station will have a roof plaza, which will have a shopping area and a food court, where people can rest and wait for their trains. The platforms will be used only when passengers alight or board trains.

The railway station is already connected to the Delhi Metro, with the New Delhi station of the metro opening at the Ajmeri Gate entrance. The metro station also has a direct connection with the Airport Metro Line. The work will be done in phases, with parts of the station being closed off for four months at a time.

Background

The redevelopment plan had been proposed for the first time in 2002-03 but could not garner enough funds. Thereafter it was designed to be a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project, but private players could not evaluate how to make returns for the large sum that the project demanded. There was also a lack of space in the area that was supposed to be leased out to private players for commercial purposes.

The idea was again mooted in 2008-09 after the RLDA was formed but ran into administrative issues at the planning stage. The state government had also shared concerns with the statutory body over traffic and land allocation.

A PPP was attempted once more in 2021 but the bids were much higher than the RLDA estimates.