RLDA to issue tenders worth Rs 10,000 crore for land redevelopment in FY21

It had issued tenders worth Rs 3,500 crore in 2019-20 and earned a revenue of Rs 931 crore

Vandana Ramnani

Representative image

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) a statutory authority under the ministry of railways responsible for the development of vacant railway land, is targeting to issue tenders worth Rs 10,000 crore in 2020-2021 and eyeing revenue of Rs 3,000 crore, top sources in RLDA said.

RLDA issued tenders worth Rs 3,500 crore during 2019-2020 and the total earnings was Rs 931 crore.

"While our target is to issue tenders worth Rs 10,000 crore in 2020-21 against Rs 3,500 crore in the previous year, a sum Rs 3,000 crore is expected from these prime plots. The plot in Kolkata alone is expected to generate Rs 800 crore as it is along a riverfront," said Ved Parkash Dudeja, vice chairman of RLDA.

The rest would be generated from prime commercial and residential plots located in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi.

RLDA awarded lease contracts worth Rs 1,553 crore during the financial year 2019-2020. The huge increase in leasing activity was a result of a shift in strategy that focuses on monetising land in Tier II cities.

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One of the major deals included a 10.76 hectare land at Ashok Vihar, New Delhi to Godrej Properties Limited for an upfront lease premium of Rs 1,359 crore. Other deals struck last year were to do with land parcels located at Aishbagh-Lucknow (Rs 54 crore), Gwaltoli-Kanpur (67 crore), Etawah in Uttar Pradesh (Rs 5 crore), Vijaywada (Rs 6 crore), Nizamabad-Telangana (Rs 5 crore), Vishakhapatnam (Rs 11 crore), Ayanavaram Chennai (Rs 28 crore), and Amritsar (Rs 15 crore).

Also Read | RLDA to redevelop railway colony in Civil Lines in north Delhi

Currently, RLDA is working on four type of projects - commercial projects(74 Nos), multifunctional complexes(123 Nos), colony redevelopment ( 84 Nos)and station development( 62 Nos).
62 Railway stations are being redeveloped by RLDA mainly on PPP mode including New Delhi, Mumbai Central and Howrah,Tirupati & Pudcherry Railway stations etc .

These stations are planned for re-development in synergy with Smart City projects launched by the government. Entire cost of station redevelopment will be met by leveraging commercial development of spare railway land/airspace in and around the railway station.

As many as 84 railway colonies with dilapidated quarters are being redeveloped by RLDA after monetising the surplus colony land & use of full FSI as prevailing DCR norms. These are spread over different parts of India including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, and Guwahati.

Railway colonies are being redeveloped by efficient utilization of FSI/FAR. This is being achieved by redeveloping the railway colony in one pocket and freeing the remaining land parcel for monetisation which is then leased to a potential developer, Dudeja said.

There will be potential earnings to railways in the form of upfront lease premium as well as development of railway colonies without any investment on the part of railways.

This will involve redevelopment of about 22,000 railway quarters and monetization of about 400 hectares of railway land, thus creating an investment opportunity for about Rs 4,000 crore for construction of railway quarters and additional non-fare revenue of about Rs 12,000 crore for the railways, Dudeja said.

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