Caught in a bureaucratic maze, a three-year-old proposal to develop the Kozhikode railway station under the Swiss Challenge Method is yet to take off.
The Kozhikode railway station is among the 23 stations and the only one in the State identified for the first phase of redevelopment under the project. It is also one of the two stations, Chennai Central in Southern Railway Zone being the other, suggested by Boston Consultancy Group for the first phase of development based on land parcels and yard plans.
The proposal is to develop the station with world-class facilities at ₹75 crore. Four sites, measuring 4.40 acres, that have been identified will be leased out to the successful bidder for 45 years.
The project offers improvement in passenger amenities, inter-modal connectivity, segregated arrival and departures, access for the disabled, digital interfaces, swipe ticket entry machines, integrated safety and security, hotels. kiosks and recreational facilities.
Sources said that the project had been stuck ever since the Vadakara-based Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), the only bidder, proposed to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) in the first phase in July 2018.
The first phase itself has gone through different stages including securing the approval of the Standing Technical Committee (STC) and Standing Finance Committee (SFC) before obtaining the nod for preparing the DPR.
The project can be taken to second and final stages of the Swiss Challenge Method only after the release of the DPR. Then it has to go through the process of bid submission, evaluation for highest premium and development selection.
The first bidder will get the Right of First Refusal (a contractual right that gives the holder the option to enter a business transaction). However, the original proposer will have to bid for a higher premium.
The project is also facing stiff resistance from railway unions. The Dakshin Railway Employees Union (DREU) had campaigned against the project in South India since its launch three years ago. The INTUC is against leasing railway land to private individuals.