Why railway station redevelopment projects do not attract private players

After 15 years of unsuccessfully trying to attract the private sector, the public sector seems to have taken the lead in developing the mega-programme

It was way back in 2004-05 that the Indian Railways first thought about the redevelopment of a railway station. Old timers in the Railway Board still believe the masterplan for the New Delhi station submitted in 2006 by Terry Farrell and Partners, a Hong Kong-based architectural firm, including a project of 16 commercial towers extending up to Connaught Place from the Paharganj side of the station, would have transformed Lutyens’ Delhi. 

On February 8, 2008, at least 35 companies — including Reliance Energy, GMR, DLF and Videocon Industries — had expressed interest in modernising the station too. The project, which was