Now, govt plans 10 smart railway stations

NEW DELHI: Ten railway stations in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Rajasthan and Kerala will be redeveloped as smart stations in a few years.

These stations -Tirupati, Sarai Rohilla (in Delhi), Nellore, Puducherry, Madgaon, Lucknow, Gomtinagar, Kota, Thane (New) and Ernakulam - will get iconic structures with modern state-of-the-art facilities, passenger lounges and congestion-free non-conflicting entry and exit to station premises. These will also have commercial space to set up business centre, offices, studio apartments and hotels.

In order to fast-track the process, Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) and National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) signed an MoU on Friday in the presence of railway minister Suresh Prabhu and urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu. The railways has embarked on an ambitious project to redevelop 403 stations with the participation of private players, public sector entities and foreign agencies.

NBCC chief Anoop Kumar Mittal said the 10 stations will be developed on public-private partnership (PPP) model and self-sustaining finance model through commercial exploitation of vacant railway land. He added the commercial use of built-up space and air space over tracks shall be leased out for a period of 40-60 years.

RLDDA and NBCC will set up a special purpose vehicle to execute the project.

Prabhu said, "We have chosen PPP model and are roping in varied agencies to execute the project namely Railways' own PSUs, other Central government PSUs, foreign countries through government-to-government cooperation and state governments."

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