L&T is lowest bidder for New Delhi station revamp with Rs 8,740 cr offer

Infra major was in the fray with Shapoorji Pallonji for largest station upgrade project; its submission is over Rs 3,000 crore beyond the Centre's estimate

Infrastructure giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has emerged as the lowest bidder for the long overdue redevelopment of New Delhi railway station. L&T was in the running with Shapoorji Pallonji, and submitted a bid of Rs 8,740 crore for the mega project, which is over Rs 3000 crore higher than the Centre’s estimate, this paper has learnt.

The project is part of Centre’s plan to modernise most high-density stations in order to ease passenger movement and improve the business prospects of these assets.

On September 28, the Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had sanctioned Rs 10,000 crore for the redevelopment of three major stations — New Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST).

According to sources, Shapoorji Pallonji bid close to Rs 9,000 crore for the project. The ministry of railways hadn't issued an official statement on the results till the time of going to print.

The project, being undertaken in Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode, is expected to be completed within three years. The 16 platforms of the station will be developed in three phases.

Long-pending revamp

The plan to overhaul the national capital’s station infrastructure had been pending for decades now, with multiple governments having tried unsuccessfully. With residential spaces, monuments, protected heritage sites and high-security areas in the vicinity, the process had been caught in a web of regulatory bottlenecks.

With the proposed upgrade, the Railways aims to solve congestion on surrounding roads, establish multi-modal integration, improve access for disabled, and smoothen passenger mobility. On the first issue, the project blueprint aims for widening of Basant Road, Chelmsford Road, and Minto Road among others.

A 23 kilometre road is also planned to decongest the busy Connaught Place area.  In the station premises, 40-storey twin towers have been planned with roof-top plazas.

Modernising the rail experience

According to Union minister for railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, this will be the first step towards modernising the rail experience, where these plazas will act as the primary footfall attraction, with the platforms to be used only for boarding and deboarding trains, similar to many western countries.

These twin domes are expected to house offices, hotels, and commercial outlets. A multi-level car parking and a multi-modal terminal is also within the scope of work. The project was earlier being bid out in public private partnership mode, but there was a change in the approach recently when Vaishnaw announced that the Centre will meet the funding requirement from its own coffers.

Till as late as April 2022, the Centre had maintained that mega stations would be redeveloped under PPP. “New Delhi railway station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus are identified for development under Hybrid Built Operate Transfer model of Public Private Partnership (PPP),” Railways had told Parliament then.

Currently, the station remains a sore point in passenger experience, despite periodic minor upgrades. Experts and travellers say the station at its current level is fundamentally not equipped to handle volumes up to 450,000 passengers a day, and the overhaul is much-needed.

Meanwhile, bids for the CST and Ahmedabad stations are also expected to be opened soon.

Another plan — Amrit Bharat Station Scheme —  to develop small stations with budgets less than Rs 15 crore has also been put into action by the railways. However, a majority of rail projects end up going through delays in execution, increasing woes of the affected stakeholders.

It would be paramount for the national transporter to oversee timely execution of the New Delhi station’s redevelopment works.

On track

Rs 9,000-cr bid made by Shapoorji Pallonji for New Delhi railway station project

Rs 10,000 cr sanctioned for redevelopment of three major stations — New Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST)

16 platforms of New Delhi station will be developed in three phases

23 lane-km road planned to decongest the busy Connaught Place area

40-storey twin towers planned with roof-top plazas