(Mint)
Indian Railways will lean on Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) to execute its ambitious station redevelopment programme, a government official aware of the matter said, ahead of the planned closure of Indian Railway Stations Development Corp. (IRSDC) that was formed exclusively for this purpose.
Railways, which has already moved about 60 such projects handled by IRSDC to respective zonal railways, will make RLDA the nodal agency to oversee all station redevelopment projects and award contracts, the person cited above said on condition of anonymity.
RLDA itself is no stranger to station redevelopment—the authority has been part of the Railways’ plan to modernize stations across the country, and has been working on redevelopment projects of over 60 stations. It is a statutory organization with complete powers over station development, land monetization and contract management. The shuttering of ISRDC will bring more redevelopment projects under its wings.
The proposed changes are in line with the suggestions made by principal economic advisor Sanjeev Sanyal in his report on the rationalization of government bodies under the ministry of railways. In the report, Sanyal had recommended that one of the two bodies—either IRSDC or RLDA—should be identified as the sole functioning entity and given full responsibility. The committee for mobilization of resources for major railway projects and the restructuring of railway board and the railway ministry too have been in favour of rationalizing the work of RLDA and IRSDC.
