New Delhi: Indian Railway is readying to auction 23 major railway stations for redevelopment, hoping to attract private investment in creating world class railway stations.

These next 23 stations include: Lokmanya Tilak, Pune, Thane, Visakhapatnam, Howrah, Kanpur Central, Allahabad, Kamakhya, Faridabad, Jammu Tawi, Udaipur City, Secundarabad, Vijaywada, Ranchi, Chennai Central, Kozhikkode, Yesvantpur, Bangalore Cant., Bhopal, Mumbai Central (Main), Bandra Terminus, Borivali and Indore.

The project, which is aimed at attracting an investment of around Rs 1 lakh crore, focuses on improving passenger amenities at stations by leveraging real estate available with the railways to fund the development.

Judin Abdul Karim, chairman, Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), told media recently that they are in talks with the Indian government for the redevelopment project.

“We are interested to work for redevelopment of stations in India. We are in talks with the government,” said Karim on the sidelines of SMART Railways Conclave in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The financial model for redevelopment work across stations has been devised in a way that the government doesn’t incur any expenditure, as the developer would be rebuilding the railway stations and maintaining it for 15 years, according to a presentation shared by the railways ministry.

In return, the developer would be granted leasing rights for the commercial properties developed at these stations for 45 years. These properties could be malls, hotels, hospitals, among others.

Rajiv Chaudhary, Adviser (Station Development), Railways Ministry said, an amount of Rs 68,000 crore will be spent on commercial development and Rs 28,000 crore on station redevelopment, chaudhary adding that the ministry is expecting a premium of Rs 10,000 crore.

The first phase of the programme was launched in February this year and the ministry had planned to award contracts in March but the process got delayed.

Meanwhile, redevelopment work will also be starting in Anand Vihar, Bijwasan and Surat stations, apart from the 23 listed above, but under the Indian Railways Station Development Corporation Ltd.

Request for proposal has been made for Anand Vihar and Bijwasan, while a request for quotation has been made for Surat. Recently, the government also cleared terms of reference for redevelopment of Anand Vihar and Bijwasan railway stations.