The ambitious Rs 6,000 crore project to turn New Delhi railway station into a world class terminus seems to have hit a roadblock with the railways contemplating issuing fresh tenders.
The railways have noticed that a majority of the bidders for the project have cross holding of shares, which is not permissible as per the government guidelines.
"The guidelines are meant to prevent conflict of interest among companies. However, if the cross holding of shares clause is applied here then majority of the bidders for New Delhi station project will be disqualified," said a senior Railways Ministry official.
"So we are examining the issue and various possibilities including re-tendering or relaxation of rules are being considered," said a senior Railways Ministry official and added "a decision is to be taken shortly."
Railway companies from Russia, China, Germany and Italy are among the total 13 consortiums which have emerged as serious contenders on technical parameters for the country's first railway station redevelopment project on public-private partnership (PPP) model.
These international companies have tied up with local players forming consortiums to bid for the mega project.
Railways have to shortlist top six consortiums for the financial bidding. "But the issue of cross holding of shares have to be sorted out before shortlisting the bidders for financial bidding," said the official.
Bidders did not object to the clause of cross holding of shares during the pre-bid stage. "Otherwise it could have been rectified at the early stage. Now a decision has to be taken at the highest level either to modify the existing clause or opt for fresh tendering," said the official.
