Railways' land in Delhi to go for auction at Rs 675 cr reserve price

Railways' much awaited commercial development plan for surplus land is set to go under hammer in the second week of April.

In Delhi's Sarai Rohilla, one of the ten sites selected for commercial development in the first phase on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis, the first railway property will be handed over to a private developer on April 11.

While eight bidders are in the race for getting about 25 acres of prime railway land in Sarai Rohilla, the reserve price is fixed at Rs 675 crores for the bidding.

The bidding will be opened in second week of April and the highest bidder will be entrusted with the responsibility of developing a group housing complex complete with all modern facilities, including shopping complex and health services, said a senior railway official.

Besides the reserve price, the developer has to renovate 750 railway quarters near the site as part of the development agreement.

The report of the feasibility study for commercial development of the 10 sites spread over 265 acres of land has been submitted to the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA).

The 10 sites are located in Delhi, Kanpur, Gwalior, Vizag, Kolkata, and Bangalore.

After Sarai Rohilla, the next bidding will be for Nirala Nagar land in Kanpur, the official said.

There are about 700 acres of railway land in 107 sites across the country which has been shortlisted for commercial development on a PPP basis. The RLDA, a statutory authority under the railway ministry, was set up by an amendment to the Railways Act, 1989, for the development of vacant railway land for commercial use.

"The purpose is to generate revenue by non-tariff measures," said the official.

The feasibility study conducted by the IL&FS has recommended construction of group housing societies, integrated township and marketing complex in these places.

However, the construction of hotel at railway land has found approval only in Bangalore in the feasibility report.

RLDA had organised a pre-bid conference this week where all the eight bidders had participated. However, no foreign bidder joined the race though it was opened to all. The last date of submission of expression of interest was January 30.