The State has opposed the public-private partnership (PPP) mode for the development of the Kozhikode railway station and instead suggested cost-sharing of the initiative between the State and Railways.
Kerala’s stance has been made clear in view of the Railways’ move to upload the tender documents for the initiative to develop 400 A1 and A class railway stations in the country in the next couple of days, official sources told The Hindu .
Interestingly, the Chief Planning and Design Engineer, Southern Railway, made a presentation on the blue print prepared for the government here on Friday.
The State wants to execute the ambitious project through the newly formed joint venture company — Kerala Rail Development Corporation (KRDC) Ltd — for executing viable rail projects in the State on cost-sharing basis. The State and Railways have 51:49 equity partnership in the venture.
Secretary of Transport K.R. Jyothilal and Divisional Railway Managers of Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad Prakash Bhutani and Naresh Lalwani respectively were present during the presentation at the Secretariat.
More land needed
As development of the Kozhikode station will need more land, Railways have identified four adjoining plots. The stations will be handed over to interested parties on ‘‘as is where is’’ basis and the developer has to come up with business plans so that the revenue realised from real estate development is sufficient to at least cover the entire cost of station development.
Kozhikode, an A1 station with passenger earnings of ₹60 crore per annum, had been selected from the 21 stations in the State for upgrade by leveraging the real estate potential and airspace in and around the station.
Chennai Central is the other station selected from Southern Railway for the initiative.
The blue print says the aim is to transform the stations into iconic structures reflecting the culture and character of the cities and to provide state-of-the-art facilities to the travelling public and residents. An indicative list of amenities to be created has also been published.
To have a major say in development, the government has nominated Cochin International Airport Limited, Kochi Metro Rail Limited, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation and Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society based at Madapally and Technopark as partners.
Secretary of Transport has been nominated as the coordinating officer.
