Indian railways adopts PPP & EPC for station redevelopment

It was announced by the Indian Railway that a combination of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) modes would be permitted for the redevelopment of stations. According to the official statement, it was stated that Coimbatore and Vijayawada stations might be the first ones to undergo PPP redevelopment, whereas Delhi and CST were scheduled for EPC redevelopment. Moreover, they mentioned that the approval for the redevelopment of these stations would be sought within the next two months. The stations listed for redevelopment through the PPP mode included Anand Vihar, Tambram, Andheri, Dadar, Pune, Kalyan, Chennai Central, Vadodra, Bangalore City, Bhopal, Hazrat Nizamuddin, and Avadi stations. As per the official information, the railway board decided to cancel the bidding process for the redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway Station in the EPC mode, after the previous attempt in the PPP mode also failed. Last year in September, the cabinet approved Rs 100 billion for the redevelopment of New Delhi, Mumbai (CST), and Ahmedabad railway stations. The lowest bid received for the redevelopment of New Delhi Railway Station was Rs 80 billion, which was higher than the government's estimated value of Rs 50 billion. The station redevelopment, falling under the front-runner asset classes as per the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), is expected to contribute approximately Rs 762.50 billion, accounting for nearly 5% of the total stations in the country. Also read: DFCCIL activates crucial rail routes on Eastern Freight Corridor Railways adopts PPP-EPC blend for station revamp