The New Delhi Railway Station project just got bigger. Realty developers may be allowed an extra floor area ratio (FAR) of 0.25 for construction of extra floors in the Rs 5,000 crore worth redevelopment project of the station. An extra FAR of 0.25 for 100 acre railway land would mean an extra real estate of 25 acre worth Rs 1,250 crore. The Railways are in talks with major realty biggies including DLF, Unitech, Paraswnath, Tatas, GMR, ADAG for the proposed redevelopment project.
"We have recived expressions of interest from almost all the real estate developers. At present, we are scrutinising their proposals. The final bid document for six qualified players would be ready by June-end and the bidding would start in July," a senior Rail Bhawan official said. The official also said that the Railways have asked for an increase in the FAR from the Delhi government and urban development ministry. "Going vertical at railway stations would help railways tap more value from the land owned by it," the official added. The FAR, if granted, would increase the height of the structure at the redeveloped Railway station, which would be commercially exploited by the real estate developers. The land would be given to the developer for a 30-year lease. According to analysts, this could be largest A-grade real estate space up for grabs by Commonwealth Games. Commercial development is part of the railway station development plan.
The Railways have also appointed Terry Farell and Partners, a Hong Kong-based consultant for redevelopment of the New Delhi railway station. As commercial exploitation of railway land would be limited to just 100 acre the remaining area would be dedicated for railway platform and station modernisation and passenger amenities. "Our prime aim is passenger comfort. Through commercial exploitation of a small part of real estate, we would be able to set off our expenditure on redevelopment," a source said. The commercial space would comprise a five star hotel, a few budget hotels, shopping arcades and a significant office space.
Apart for unlocking land in Delhi, the Railways has decided to allow commercial use of space available at 21 railway stations in major cities, developing commercial space above tracks. The identified stations to be modernised in the first phase are New Delhi, CSTM Mumbai, Howrah, Chennai, Bangalore, Patna, Anand Vihar (Delhi), Mathura, Jaipur, Amritsar, Agra, Pune, Lucknow, Bijwasan (Delhi), Chandigarh, Varanasi, Trivandrum, Secunderabad, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar and Bhopal.
