A prime railway land near the Howrah railway station will be offered on lease for residential-cum-commercial development for a period of 99 years as Indian Railways looks to raise funds. According to officials, the land parcel, having 88,300 square metres area, is situated along the riverbank of Hooghly and will be put under the hammer with Rs 448 crore reserve price. An official was quoted in a PTI report saying that bids have been invited by the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) for leasing vacant railway land at Howrah’s Salt Golah. It is located along a 20m wide highway, around 1.5 kilometres from the Howrah railway station. The initial feedback in the pre-bid meeting from local developers was encouraging, he said. For the submission of the bid, the deadline is August 29, he added.

A statutory authority for the development of railway land under the Railway Ministry, RLDA has four key mandates as a part of its development plan, which include leasing commercial sites, colony redevelopment, redevelopment of station and multi-functional complexes. RLDA vice-chairman Ved Parkash Dudeja was quoted in the report saying that Howrah is West Bengal’s vibrant commercial hub. The railway land present at Salt Golah can be utilized for residential-cum-commercial development. Besides, water sports facilities can be developed there as well, Dudeja further said.

The railway site is surrounded by Ratnakar School and Golabari Ghat in the north, Railway Printing Press and Signal Workshop in the south, the river Hooghly in the east, while Salkia School Road on the west. According to officials, the lessee will be given controlled and regulated marketing rights, as well as the lessee, will be mandated to develop the site within a duration of ten years. The national transporter has nearly 43,000 hectares of vacant land across India. Currently, the RLDA is handling as many as 84 railway colony redevelopment projects. Recently, the authority has leased out three railway colonies in Guwahati and Secunderabad for redevelopment, the officials said. In India, RLDA has more than 100 commercial (greenfield) sites for leasing, the officials added.

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