In continuation with its efforts to rightsize the Indian Railways network, an order has been recently issued by the Railway Board, closing down the IRSDC that was established for the redevelopment of railway stations across the country. This is the second Indian Railways organization under the Ministry of Railways to be shut down after the closing down of the Indian Railways Organisation for Alternative Fuel (IROAF) on 7 September 2021, a PTI report said. The step of closing Indian Railways’ organizations by the Railway Board is a move to accept the Finance Ministry’s recommendation of rationalizing government bodies either by shutting them down or through merging various organizations under different ministries.
The recent order by the Railway Board, which was issued late on Monday said the railway stations in India managed by the IRSDC will now be handed over to the respective zones of Indian Railways. Also, all project related documents will be passed by the corporation to them for further development. Among several other rail projects, the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation of Indian Railways, which was established in March 2012, was involved in the process of bidding for the redevelopment of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CSMT) station in the city of Mumbai.
Recently, bids were invited by IRSDC for the setting up of “Rail Arcade” at Chandigarh as well as KSR Bengaluru railway stations. The corporation had also announced plans to undertake facility management of as many as 90 railway stations across the southern part of the country. The report was prepared by Principal Economic Advisor, Sanjeev Sanyal. The report also suggested the merger of the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) – an organization that implements projects relating to creation as well as augmentation of rail infra, with the Indian Railway Construction Limited (IRCON), an organization that specializes in infrastructure construction.