Railways: Adani, Tata, GMR among 43 firms to show interest in CSMT redevelopment project

Tata Projects, Adani Group, Larsen & Toubro, and GMR Group were among 43 prospective bidders who attended a pre-bid meeting on Friday for the redevelopment of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus of the railways in Mumbai, a UNESCO World Heritage site. According to a railway ministry statement, the Rs 1,642-crore redevelopment project encapsulates integration of various modes to make the iconic railway station a multi-modal transport hub.

The total real estate built-up area is 25 lakh square feet and the construction period is of four years, it said. The cost of the real estate around it is Rs 1,433 crore.

The Niti Aayog CEO and the Railway Board Chairman and CEO chaired the pre-bid meeting via digital platform.

The meeting was attended by representatives of 43 prospective bidders, including Adani Group, Tata Projects Ltd., Eldeco, GMR Group, JKB Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd, SNCF Hubs and Connexions, I Squared Capital, Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd., Ace Urban developers, GR Infrastructure, Essel Group, and Larsen & Toubro.

The meeting was also attended by architects (namely BDP Singapore, Hafeez Contractor, AECOM), fund houses (namely Anchorage Infrastructure Investment Holdings Ltd., Brookfield), consultancy firms (namely JLL, Boston Consultancy Group, KPMG, PwC India, EY), and embassies namely the British High Commission.

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 meet.

CSMT is a historic station and UNESCO World Heritage site located in the heart of Mumbai city. The redevelopment plan 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.

The CSMT railway station will function like a city centre rail mall where, in addition to a passenger's transportation needs, his daily needs like retail, food and beverage, entertainment, souvenir shopping are also fulfilled.

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 Request for Qualification (RFQ) for redevelopment of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus on public-private partnership (PPP) mode has been invited by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC).

During the pre-bid meeting, it was highlighted that at the RFQ stage the applicants would need to fulfil only the financial criteria, and the technical eligibility criteria has been dispensed with.

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.