Mumbai CSMT revamp set to be on track; Ahluwalia Contracts lowest bidder

After years of regulatory obstacles and delays, the redevelopment of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) is one step closer to taking shape.

Ahluwalia Contracts emerged the lowest bidder for the project at Rs 2,450 crore, Business Standard has learnt.

The construction company is up against three major players — NCC, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and Afcons Infrastructure.

Sources said Ahluwalia’s bid was significantly lower than the other three.

They added that NCC submitted a bid of approximately Rs 3,700 crore, Afcons valued the project at Rs 3,900 crore while L&T made a bid of about Rs 4,100 crore.

The Centre had reportedly estimated the project to cost around Rs 1,800 crore. Barring the lowest bid, all others valued the project at more than double the Centre’s estimate.

There was no official statement from the ministry of railways till the time of publishing this report.

The redeveloped structure will be a green building with solar energy and waste management system, among other features.

It will have separate arrival and departure terminals for passengers, and will contain a commercial space with restaurants, lounges and retail stores, among others. The station is expected to be integrated with the city’s Metro line-3 after the upgrade.

Seven months ago, Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said the development of The Unesco World Heritage site was planned in a way that does not interfere with the heritage of the building. He added that most of the development has been planned around the station premises. In fact, most of the heritage restoration work involves removal of additions and extensions on the original site.

Under the plan, the national transporter also intends to move railway offices away from the heritage area. A rooftop plaza will be developed over 5.6 acres, and the heritage segment will be pedestrianised. The project had been stuck for decades due to difficulties in gathering approvals around the heritage site.

Business Standard had previously reported that a rationalisation in railway-owned entities had sent the redevelopment plan back to square one in 2021.

Back then, the project was overseen by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC), a joint venture between Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) and IRCON. These two entities are owned by the ministry of railways. 

In October 2021, IRSDC was abruptly shut down and all its projects were handed to RLDA and zonal railways. After this, this whole tendering process for around 60 projects had to be restarted.

In the previous scrapped tender, Adani Railways, Oberoi Realty, and GMR Highways were among the nine bidders in the race for the marquee station project. It was then proposed to be executed in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, in September 2022, had approved the holistic redevelopment of New Delhi, Ahmedabad, and CSMT stations at a cumulative budget of Rs 10,000 crore.

Last week, L&T emerged the lowest bidder for the overhaul of New Delhi station with a Rs 8,740-crore bid. On Tuesday, Afcons was the lowest bidder for Ahmedabad station revamp with a bid of Rs 5,400 crore.