Railways to raise Rs 1,900 crore by monetising land

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / June 27, 2021

Indian Railways arm Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is looking to raise more than Rs 1,904 crore by monetising its land assets across the country.

RLDA, a statutory body under the Ministry of Railways for the development of Railways land, has called for bids for leasing out 16 land assets across India, of which 4 are located in UP at Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Varanasi.

The cumulative reserved price for these 16 land parcels is nearly Rs 1,904 crore, of which the 4 properties in UP are pegged at Rs 770 crore. The Authority will lease out these land parcels to prospective developers who will develop these sites in line with local bye-laws.

RLDA vice chairman Ved Prakash Dudeja said these land parcels are ‘strategically located’ in important cities across India and hold tremendous potential for residential and commercial development. 

“These sites offer tremendous growth opportunities for investors and developers. Once completed, these sites will lead to economic development, employment generation and boost real estate prospects of the respective regions,” he noted.

Taking the catastrophic effect of the pandemic in its stride, RLDA is targeting revenue generation of Rs 2,000 crore for the Indian Railways in 2021-22, up from Rs 352 crore in the previous year.

RLDA has four key mandates as a part of its development plan viz. leasing of commercial sites, colony redevelopment, station redevelopment and multi-functional complexes.

Prominent amongst the 16 sites offered for bidding are Lucknow Railway Station Redevelopment, Ramgarh Tal Colony (Gorakhpur), land parcel at Gomti Nagar (Lucknow), land parcel near Moula Ali Flyover (Secunderabad), Boulevard Road Colony (Delhi) and land at Salt Golah (Howrah).

The Indian Railways has approximately 43,000 hectares of vacant land parcels across India. RLDA is currently handling 84 commercial (greenfield) sites and 84 railway colony redevelopment projects across India for leasing, and the eligible developers for each will be selected through an open and transparent bidding process.

Besides, RLDA is mandated with the redevelopment of railway stations and is currently working on 60 railway stations in a phased manner while its subsidiary, IRSDC, has taken up another 63 railway stations pan India.