In pics: Key highlights of New Delhi railway station redevelopment plan

At least 20 national and international firms, including Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français, Arabian Construction Company, Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings, Adani, GMR, and JKB Infrastructure, have shown interest in rebuilding the New Delhi railway station.

The project aims to revamp the station as a multi-modal hub through overhauling of infrastructure and provision of state-of-the-art amenities, such as an elevated concourse and multi-level car parking. The project will be developed on a design-build-finance-operate-transfer model for a concession period of 60 years. The process is expected to incur a capital expenditure of around Rs 6,500 crore, and is slated to be completed in four years.

The concessionaire will earn revenue from several components, including passenger handling fees collected via ticket sales, revenue from passenger facilities within the station, such as retail areas, lounges, parking, advertisement spaces, and income from the development and lease of commercial components.

The phased redevelopment encompasses station redevelopment, development of associated infrastructure, relocation of social infrastructure as well as the refurbishment of railway offices and railway quarters.

Food courts and restrooms, an elevated concourse with segregation of arriving and departing passengers, refurbished platforms with easy access from the concourse level, mezzanine level exclusively for passenger facilities such as lounges, an elevated road network with multiple entry and exit points, a multi-level car parking facility, and green building provisions, such as optimum use of natural ventilation and lighting, will be some of the key highlights of the redeveloped station.

The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is currently working on 62 stations in a phased manner, while its subsidiary, Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation, has taken up another 61 stations.

In the first phase, RLDA has prioritised prominent stations like New Delhi, Tirupati, Dehradun, Nellore, and Puducherry for redevelopment.