Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi's proposal to mobilise additional resources from commercial utilisation of land and air space in Mumbai has evoked a mixed reactions. While realty players and experts see it as a lucrative proposal, economists and transport consultant believe that it should not remain a statement of intention rather than a statement of action. About 500 acre land currently in the possession of railways can be considered for commercial utilisation in addition to the space adjacent to the railway stations to finance infrastructure development. However, realty players and economists are unanimous on one thing that railways need to carry out a comprehensive study as a large portion of land has already been encroached.
"It will be fantastic thing. today people travel from railway station to offices. If offices come up on top of stations, commuting will be easier for people. Today land near stations are lying vacant, there are squatting and so on. If railways develop these land parcels and use the funds to develop railway infrastructure, it will be great", said Sandeep Runwal, director, Runwal Group.
On the other hand, Pranay Vakil, chairman, Knight Frank notes the proposal will be lucrative as there are large parcels of land in Mumbai and the way real estate prices are today. "Depending on zoning, regulations, they can develop it into either commercial or residential and benefit from it," says Vakil.
However, Sunil Bhandare, leading consulting economist makes a case for railways to first do land mapping in order to evaluate volume of quantity in its possession and how much is not encroached one. Currently a large chunk of land is encroached in Mumbai and therefore a comprehensive mapping was necessary before pursuing commercial use.
"Besides, railways need to augment infrastructure especially road connectivity while developing spaces adjacent to railway stations. Railways also will have to upgrade facilities for commuters while developing food malls and other amenities in the railway stations in order to avoid congestion," suggests Bhandare.
Sudhir Badami, transport expert calls for total transparency during commercial exploitation of land by the railways. "In my view national assets should not be put for commercial utilisation. If the railways want to do it then it should be done in the most transparent manner. Further, the proposed commercial utilisation should not put additional burden on commuters as railways will have to develop additional infrastructure simultaneously," he adds.