NEW DELHI, INDIA (Smart Cities News): On Tuesday, Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) announced that they redevelop 49 additional railway stations in India. Before this, RLDA is already developing 60 railway stations under the government’s Smart Cities Mission. These stations are Amravati (Maharashtra), Rajkot, Mathura, Agra Fort, Bikaner, Kurukshetra, and Bhopal.
“We look forward to the mandate. The station redevelopment is initially linked to urban rejuvenation. The redevelopment of these stations will offer world-class amenities to passengers and enhance their travel experience. It will also lead to a multiplier effect on the local economy to boost retail, real estate and tourism and generate employment opportunities. As a responsible organisation, RLDA is steadfastly committed to delivering these stations as per schedule to fulfil the aspirations of New India,” said Shri Ved Parkash Dudeja, Vice Chairman, RLDA.
The stations which RLDA redevelops in the next phase are Meerut City, Moradabad, Deen Dayal Upadhyay (Mughal Sarai), Gorakhpur, Aligarh, Gonda, Mathura, Agra Fort, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh; Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Gandhidham, Junagarh, Rajkot in Gujarat; Bhopal, Bina, Jhansi, Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh; Beas, Jalandhar City, Bhatinda Junction, New Pathankot (Chakki Bank) in Punjab etc.
The stations to be redeveloped in Maharashtra include Nanded, Amravati, Akola. In Bihar, the stations include those located in Chapra, Sitamarhi, Barauni, Darbhanga; Dhanbad, Tatanagar, Jasidih in Jharkhand; Tirunelveli, Chennai Central in Tamil Nadu; Begumpet, Kachegoda in Telangana; Gudur and Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh.
Other stations include Bandel and New Cooch Behar in West Bengal; Bikaner and Jodhpur in Rajasthan; Palampur in Himachal Pradesh; Silchar in Assam; Kurukshetra in Haryana; Vasco-da-Gama in Goa; Mysore in Karnataka and Haridwar in Uttarakhand, said RLDA officials.
Recently, RLDA has successfully invited bids from eligible developers to participate in the redevelopment process for the Puri and Lucknow Railway Stations; it has also finalised the redevelopment of the Dehradun Nellore Tirupati, Puducherry, Ernakulum and New Delhi Railway Station etc. These station work will be redeveloped under the PPP model.
Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is a statutory authority under the Ministry of Railways to develop Railway land. Its development plan has four critical mandates: commercial leasing sites, colonies redevelopment, station redevelopment, and multi-functional complexes.
Indian Railways has approximately forty-three thousand (43,000) hectares of vacant land in our country. RLDA is currently handling 84 railway colony redevelopment projects and has recently leased out three railway colonies in Guwahati and Secunderabad for redevelopment. In addition, RLDA has over 100 commercial sites in India for lease, and the eligible developers for each will be selected through an open and straightforward auction process.
RLDA is now working on 109 Railway stations in a phased manner. RLDA has prioritised significant railway stations such as New Delhi, Tirupati, Dehradun, Nellore, Cuttack, Lucknow and Puducherry for redevelopment in the first phase. These railway stations will be redeveloped on a PPP/EPC Model as a part of the Smart City Mission launched by the government of India.