The pre-bid meeting for the redevelopment of Chatrapati Shaivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), a UNESCO heritage site, on Friday was attended by 43 prospective bidders including Adani Group, Tata Projects Ltd and GMR among few.

The virtual meeting was chaired by Niti Aayog Chairman Amitabh Kant and attended by Railway CEO VK Yadav and several other senior officers.

Adani Group, Tata Projects Ltd., Eldeco, GMR Group, JKB Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd, SNCF Hubs & Connexions, I Squared Capital, Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd., Ace Urban developers, GR Infrastructure, Essel Group, Larsen & Toubro; architects namely BDP Singapore, Hafeez Contractor, AECOM; Fund houses namely Anchorage Infrastructure Investment Holdings Ltd., Brookfield and consultancy firms namely JLL, Boston Consultancy Group, KPMG, PwC India, EY and embassies namely British High Commission were among those who attended the meeting.

The ministry official said that Invest India set up by DPIIT which is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency that helps investors looking for investment opportunities and options in India also attended.

"The redevelopment plan encapsulates integration of various modes to make this railway station a multimodal transport hub as per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will include segregation of arrival and departure, divyang friendly station, better level of services for passengers, energy efficient building and restoring the heritage site as per its 1930 levels," he said.

The official said that the CSMT railway station will function like a city centre rail mall where in addition to a passenger's transportation needs, his daily needs are also fulfilled, like- Retail, F&B, Entertainment, Souvenir shopping.

The aim is that most of his daily needs are catered to by visiting the railway station thus avoiding unnecessary travel within the city. The infrastructure at the redeveloped station is envisaged in such a manner that it promotes seamless integration from one mode to another mode.

"Upon redevelopment, it will provide multiple access points to passengers for easy commute and also a direct linkage between suburban railway, harbour line, long distance, Metro rail and commercial development," the official said adding that it will help in reducing the congestion while enjoying the enhanced heritage structure.

The IRSDC has invited Request for Qualification (RFQ) for redevelopment of CSMT on PPP and the last date for applications is October 22, 2020. During the pre-bid meeting, it was highlighted that at the RFQ stage the applicants would need to fulfil only the financial criteria that is minimum net worth (for developers) or minimum ACI (for funds) and the technical eligibility criteria has been dispensed with, official said.

"The CSMT project cost is Rs 1,642 crore and the cost of real estate is Rs 1,433 crores. The total real estate BUA is 25 lac sq. ft. at CSMT, Wadi Bunder and Byculla. The construction period is of four years," the official said.

The selected bidder at the RFP stage shall take up the redevelopment of the Railway station and commercial development of the surrounding railway land on leasehold basis for 60 years for commercial development and up to 99 years for residential development on selected plots, along with operation and maintenance of the station for 60 years on concession basis, he said.