Objective of the ambitious project is to position New Delhi railway station as a multimodal hub (File)

France's state-owned railway company SNCF, the GMR Group and the Adani Group are among 20 entities that have shown interest in redeveloping the New Delhi railway station into a world-class multimodal hub.

At a pre-bid meeting on Tuesday, around 20 national and international firms -- such as the SNCF, the Arabian Construction Company, the GMR, the Adani Group, the JKB Infra, Anchorage Infrastructure -- participated.

The project, being implemented by the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), is estimated to cost Rs 6,500 crore and will be completed in around four years.

"The redevelopment of New Delhi Railway Station has attracted interest from leading global firms," RLDA Vice Chairman Ved Parkash Dudeja said.

The objective of the ambitious project is to position the New Delhi railway station as a multimodal hub through upgradation of the infrastructure and provision of state-of-the-art amenities such as an elevated concourse, a multi-level car parking and much more facilities.

The project would be developed on a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) model for a concession period of 60 years.

"The project aims to transform New Delhi Railway Station into a world-class transit hub, in line with the Prime Minister's vision of New India. This station will be a one-stop destination for retail, commercial and hospitality. It will also boost real estate and ensure cascading development of New Delhi and surrounding regions," Mr Dudeja said.

The concessionaire will earn revenues from several components including passenger handling fees collected via ticket sales, revenues from passenger facilities within the station such as retail areas, lounges, parking, advertisement spaces, food and beverages, income from the development and lease of the commercial components to name a few, the RLDA said in a statement.

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

Other aspects include developing food courts and restrooms, an elevated concourse with segregation for arriving and departing passengers, and refurbished platforms with easy access from the concourse level.

The redevelopment plan also envisions mezzanine level exclusively for passenger facilities such as lounges, an elevated road network with multiple entry and exit points.

Green building provisions such as optimum use of natural ventilation and lighting will also be a key highlight of the redeveloped station.

New Delhi Railway Station is the largest and second busiest station in the country and handles approximately 4.5 lakh passengers daily (approximately 160 -170 million passengers annually).

The station handles 400 trains per day which are expected to increase due to higher operational efficiencies resulting from the redevelopment and better yard utilization.

The RLDA is currently working on 62 stations in a phased manner while its subsidiary, IRSDC has taken up another 61 stations for redevelopment.

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

Railway stations across the country will be redeveloped on a PPP Model as a part of Smart City Projects launched by the government.

The RLDA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Railways for development of vacant railway land for commercial use in line with the objective to generate revenue by non-tariff measures.

Currently, the approximately 43,000 hectares of Railways land are lying vacant.

The RLDA has over 79 sites across India for leasing and the eligible developers for each will be selected through an open and transparent bid process.

The RLDA is currently also handling 84 railway colony redevelopment projects and has recently leased out a railway colony in Guwahati for redevelopment.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

SII has partnered with AstraZeneca for manufacturing vaccine candidate for COVID-19 (Representational)

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr VG Somani on Tuesday gave permission to Serum Institute of India to resume clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the country while revoking its earlier order of suspending any new recruitment for phase two and three trial.

The DCGI, however, put certain conditions like taking extra care during screening, providing additional information in informed consent and close monitoring for adverse events during follow-up of the study which have to be "scrupulously" followed by Serum Institute of India (SII).

SII has also been asked to submit to the DCGI's office details of medication used in accordance with the protocol for management of adverse events.

The DCGI had on September 11 directed Serum Institute of India to suspend any new recruitment in the phase two and three clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate till further orders in the backdrop of pharma giant AstraZeneca pausing the clinical trials in other countries because of "an unexplained illness" in a participant in the study.

On Saturday, British-Swedish biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford said clinical trials for their coronavirus vaccine have resumed in the UK after the Medicines Health Regulatory Authority's (MHRA) confirmed that the trials were safe.

SII, which has partnered with AstraZeneca for manufacturing the vaccine candidate for COVID-19, on Tuesday submitted the recommendations of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), UK and DSMB, India, and requested for permission to restart enrolment in the clinical trial.

According to Tuesday's order issued by DCGI, the DSMB, UK, recommended that the investigators recommence all immunization in their clinical trials subject to certain conditions.

DSMB, India, also has recommended to continue the study and enroll the remaining participants in the clinical trial as per protocol subject to certain conditions.

According to the order, SII has submitted revised participant information sheet, revised informed consent form and additional safety monitoring plan for the evolved participants.

The Pune-based firm has also submitted a summary of safety follow up of seven days post first vaccination, stating that no serious adverse events were experienced by any of the subjects till the date of the reporting, and the reported adverse events were stated to be mild, resolved on their own and did not have any sequale.

"In view of the above, I Dr V G Somani, Drugs Controller General of India, Central Licensing Authority, after careful examination of your reply and the recommendations of the DSMB in India and in UK revoke herewith the order dated September 11 issued under Rule 30 of the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019.

"You may recommence the clinical trial as recommended by DSMB, India, as per already approved protocol and the provisions laid down under the New Drugs and Clinical Trial Rules, 2019, subject to the conditions mentioned," the order said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)