The Railways Ministry has identified 15 stations across the country for redevelopment under the public-private partneRailway station redevelopment under PPP model rship (PPP) model, but only one of them has so far moved past the planning stage, according to a written reply tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was responding to a question from Biju Janata Dal MP Dilip Kumar Ray on the ministry’s plans for asset monetisation from railway stations.
14 railway stations yet to reach appraisal stage
Vaishnaw pointed to the Rani Kamalapati station in Madhya Pradesh as the model the ministry has already put into practice, describing it as a station that has been developed and commissioned under the PPP framework. That project has served as the reference point for the ministry’s subsequent push to bring private investment into station redevelopment.
Of the 15 stations identified so far, only one, Vijayawada Railway Station in Andhra Pradesh, under the South Coast Railway zone, has moved to the appraisal stage. The proposal for its redevelopment was sent to the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) and has since received approval, the minister said.
However, the tender process has hit a snag. According to the reply, bids were invited for the Vijayawada redevelopment, but no offer was received, forcing the ministry to re-invite tenders for the project.
14 stations remain in master planning and financial modelling
The remaining 14 stations on the list are yet to reach the appraisal stage and are, in the minister’s words, at various stages of master planning and financial modelling. These are Coimbatore Junction, Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna station in Bengaluru, Chennai Central, Andheri, Avadi, Tambaram, Bhopal, Vadodara, Kalyan, Dadar, Anand Vihar, Delhi Junction, Hazrat Nizamuddin and Pune, as per the reply.
The list spans metros and mid-sized cities across several states, from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the south to Delhi and Madhya Pradesh in the north, as per the reply.