Railway Authorities approach the BMC Heritage Committee for authorization to begin work on the CSTM renovation

The Railway officials have taken a step forward by approaching the Heritage Committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for approval to proceed with the reconstruction of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) building. This is one of the most important milestones in the World Heritage site's Rs 1,300-crore renovation.

 

Anil Kumar Lahoti, General Manager of Central and Western Railways, confirmed that the plan to redevelop the CSMT railway station has been filed to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai's Heritage Committee. This would ideally entail that local governments would be required to offer comments and ideas to the railways on sections of the revamping proposed by the Central Railway, which has developed primary plans.

 

According to railway authorities, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw keeps a careful eye on the modernization of railway stations, particularly CSMT. CSMT is one of the first stations to be prioritized for reconstruction at a cost of approximately Rs 1,350 crore by the rail authority. The Indian Railways have suggested leasing the CSMT for 27 years. They've also chosen the Hybrid Annuity Approach to fund the CSMT station's reconstruction, which is expected to replace the PPP model, which costs Rs 1,637 crore.

 

According to the new Hybrid Annuity Model, the private contractor would cover 60% of the project costs, while Indian Railways will cover 40%. This is over a 27-year span. According to the previous PPP model, the developer was responsible for the whole cost of the project in exchange for long-term lease rights for residential or mixed-use real estate development for up to 99 years.

After the examination, nine bidders qualified for the next step on January 15, 2021.

 

M/s Godrej Properties Ltd, M/s Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Ltd, M/s Oberoi Realty Ltd, M/s ISQ Asia  Infrastructure Investments Pte Ltd, M/s Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd, M/s GMR Enterprises Private Ltd, M/s Moribus Holdings Pte Ltd, and M/s BIF IV Infrastructure Holding DIFC Pvt Ltd were among the shortlisted bidders.

 

In the great plan of things, the World Heritage CSMT railway station will become a Rail-o-polis and a centre of convergence for multiple means of public transportation. It would have a total built-up area of 2.54 lakh square metres and will house both residential and commercial offices.