The Indian Railway will be kick-starting the e-auction of 22 major railway stations in India under the public private partnership mode. The Ministry officials will be holding pre-bid consultations with real estate developers for the same. One of the 22 stations to be revamped is Visakhapatnam.
A senior official reportedly stated that many developers are showing interest to invest in this project. The ministry has already handed over the Habibgani station in Bhopal to a private developer. It is one of the 23 stations to be auctioned in the first phase.
The stations that will be redeveloped by year end include Bangalore Cantonment, Yeswanthpur, Pune, Thane, Kamakhya, Jammu Tawi, Udaipur City, Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Ranchi, Kozhikode, Bandra Terminus, Borivali and Indore.
The aim of the project is to attract Rs 1 lakh crore in investment to facelift 400 major stations across the country through PPP. The first phase itself, consisting of Visakhapatnam railway station, is expected to bring in Rs 30,000 crore through this auction. The sum being brought in through the auction is expected to be huge as these stations are all located in major commercial hubs.
Visakhapatnam railway station is expected to be developed by Malaysia as they have shown major interest in the project.
