The Indian Railways will 'buy-back' Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) after its redevelopment. They have changed the financial model from Public Private Participation (PPP) to a Hybrid model wherein private developers will be repaid the funds put in for the development of CSMT. A site visit is expected from Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on December 24 who will be addressed by Central Railway.
The new Hybrid Annuity Model has been approved by Niti Aayog and will now go to the Railway Ministry for final approval.
In the previous plan, CSMT was to be leased out for 99 years but now the rail authorities will hand over the station within 27 years. "We have adopted the Hybrid Annuity Model for funding redevelopment of CSMT station. The PPP model has been replaced by it," said Anil Kumar Lahoti, General Manager, Central Railway.
According to Central Railway officials earlier under PPP model, CSMT was to be revamped by private consultant against which he would have got development rights for Byculla railway premises. Plus, there were plans to construct residential and commercial buildings at CSMT whose rights was to be given for 99 years. Now the Indian Railways have segregated development of CSMT and Byculla stations and even cost of CSMT revamp has come down from Rs 1637 crore to Rs 1350 crore.
Sources said that Byculla could be redeveloped separately as it has been delinked from the PPP plans. As per the new Hybrid Annuity Model, the private contractor will fund 60 percent of the project cost while Indian Railways will pay 40 percent of the cost over 35-40 years. The rail officials said that the whole idea is that rail land at CSMT will be retained after paying off the cost spent by the private developer.
The rail authorities will call for bidding before selecting the lowest bidder for CSMT revamp. Fresh request for qualification bids will be called while those contractors who have already been qualified previously under PPP model will remain qualified. The Hybrid Annuity Model will enable more bidders to come forward.
The World Heritage railway station of CSMT will no longer be confined to being a vital suburban rail station and terminus. In the grand scale of plans, CSMT will act like a cog in the wheel connecting various modes of public transit. Right from laying a new elevated Harbour line terminating near GPO to creating intersection with Metro 3 and Metro 11 lines; CSMT will become a nodal junction.
All this is part of the overall revamp of CSMT station into a ‘Rail-o-polis’ that will hold residential and commercial offices with built-up area of 2.54 lakh sq.meters. The proposed fast line on Panvel-CSMT Harbour corridor will come all the way till GPO or St George Hospital via P D’Mello Road. Earlier, it was to terminate at Carnac Bunder. The suburban rail line at CSMT is likely to be joined by subways and FOBs to connect it with Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro-3 and Wadala-CSMT Metro-11 as well.
The plan includes conservation of heritage building, revamp of the areas in and around CSMT station, the convergence of different modes of transportation and designing facilities for passengers. Concourse area will be beautified; heritage square, pedestrian plaza around heritage building and green zone will be created. Some of the changes include two elevated nodes covering the suburban section and long-distance trains, distributed entry/exit points and having a Victorian architectural styled all-weather roof covering the length and breadth of the rail premises are part of the plans deemed as paying ‘homage to heritage’ by redeveloping CSMT station.
