Mumbai’s iconic CSTM railway station up for grabs
25 Aug 2020
Railways has set the plan to redevelop Mumbai’s iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSTM) on public private partnership (PPP) basis rolling with the IRSDC inviting Request for Qualification (RFQ) following the in principle approval of the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC).
Along with CSTM, New Delhi railway station, another major railway terminus with some of the largest footfalls, is also being offered for private development, in what would be a major boost to railway station redevelopment plans.
The redevelopment will be on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis and the base cost of the project, including the cost of financing and contingency etc, is estimated at Rs1,642 crore while earlier reports had estimated the redevelopment project of two busiest rail terminals to garner an investment of Rs6,642 crore.
With 16 platforms, more than 450 trains and over 4 lakh footfalls on a daily basis, the New Delhi Railway Station redevelopment project is expected to involve an investment of Rs5,000 crore.
The selected players will be able to earn revenues by way of passenger handling fees collected from passengers through ticket sales, revenues from passenger facilities within the station such as retail areas, lounges, parking, advertisement spaces, food and beverages and income from the development and lease of the commercial components.
IRSDC on Friday published the RFQ for redevelopment of CSTM through a notice inviting tender. The RFQ document is available on http://irsdc.enivida.com/. IRSDC has called a pre bid conference on 22 September 2020. The application due date is 22 October 2020.
Applicants meeting the eligibility criteria will be shortlisted for participating in further stage. The entire bidding will be a two-stage process consisting of RFQ and Request for Proposal (RFP). The selected bidder at the RFP stage will take up the redevelopment of the railway station and commercial development of the surrounding railway land on leasehold basis up to 60 years for commercial development along with operation and maintenance of the station for 60 years on concession basis.
Part of the land that will used for residential development will have a lease period of up to 99 years.
The concessioner will also be entitled to charge user fee, which will be another continuous source of revenue, which will be available just after the commercial operation date (COD) of the station.
The planning has been done by AREP from France and discussions have been held with various stakeholders on periodic basis. The redevelopment cost of the station (mandatory cost) including the cost of financing and contingency etc is Rs1,642 crore. The investment opportunity for redevelopment is on DBFOT (Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer) basis.
Project highlights:
- In principle approval of PPPAC comprising representatives from ministries of railways, finance and law and Niti Aayog
- Eligibility criteria is in terms of financial capacity at the RFQ stage and the net worth / ACI should be Rs821 cr at the close of preceding financial year;
- The construction and O&M experience capacity shall have to be met after the award of project but before the appointed date;
- For providing better passenger services and amenities, railway stations shall be on license with concessionaire for 60 years;
- Pre-determined user charges (as notified by MoR) from railway station users as in practice in airports etc;
- Long Term lease-rights for real estate of up to 99 years for residential or mix use format and 60 years for non-residential formats.
- Up to 2.54 lakh sq m of built-up area (tentative) is allowed for commercial development. Exact built up area allowed shall be known at the RFP stage;
- No change in land use is required;
- ·No prior environmental clearance is required from environment ministry;
- ·IRSDC will be a single window for approval of master plan and building plans in consultation with local authorities;
- Alternate investment fund (AIF) or foreign investment fund (FIF) are also eligible to participate; and
- All applicants who meet the qualification criteria shall be eligible to submit price bid at RFP stage, ie, there is no upper cap for shortlisting of applicants for RFP stage.
The announcement comes after reports that nine major players, including GMR Business, Kalpataru Power Transmission, Cube Construction Engineering Ltd and Monte Carlo Ltd, have qualified for redeveloping Gwalior, Amritsar, Nagpur and Sabarmati stations in the public-private partnership model at an estimated cost of Rs1,300 crore.
The four stations of Gwalior, Amritsar, Nagpur and Sabarmati are set to be redeveloped with a total built up area of 54 lakh sq ft for commercial development for which total 29 applicants were shortlisted for the Request for Proposal (RFP), the next stage.