Nagpur Railway Station to get Rs 412 crore facelift
Nagpur: The Railway Administration has approved the modernisation of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model of four railway stations including Nagpur Railway Station. The remaining three railway stations are Gwalior, Amritsar and Sabarmati (in Gujarat).
The Indian Railways are all set to impose charges for the use of railway platforms, following the footsteps of airports. The charges would be named the User Development Fee (UDF) and will be used for railway infrastructure development and upgrading. While flying through Indian airports, users must pay what is known as Airport Development Charges (ADC), funds collected through which airports are used to develop and maintain.
Total Rs 412 crore from the PPP scheme would be spent on modernizing and improving facilities at Nagpur Railway Station. Rs 372 crore was allocated for reconstruction station building and Rs 40 crore was allocated for other facilities out of this number. The private company would be granted the right to recover’ production fee’ for a period of 99 years after the sanctioning of tenders. Nagpur Railway Station’s modernization period would be completed within four and a half years, according to an official. “User fee” will be recovered after the work is completed. The amount of “user fee” has not been set as of now.
According to sources, the UDF will have to be charged by passengers boarding or deboarding trains in Nagpur, Gwalior, Amritsar and Sabarmati, which will also refer to those entering a railway station platform to see off or receive a passenger. Nevertheless, how much UDF is to be assessed for either case has not been determined so far.
