The Railway Ministry will notify the user charges for railway stations and the annual revision for stations that are being redeveloped by the Indian Railways Station Development Corporation (IRSDC).

These user charges are akin to ‘platform charges’ that visitors at the station pay. Revenue from user charges will add to the total revenue of the ‘developer’ at a time when the real estate market is under stress.

On increase in user chargers at the Pune station to ₹50 from ₹10 post Covid-19, Sanjeev Lohia, Managing Director and CEO, IRSDC, said in a virtual conference here on Tuesday that the corporation coordinated with the Indian Railways for platform ticket charges to stop ‘non-serious’ persons from entering the station and to maintain social distancing. Also, as of now, the charges have been increased only at the Pune railway station.

On the formula that will be used to revise or determine the change in user charges, Lohia said that the Ministry will notify it. Platform ticket charges may also decrease if they are linked to costs, he added.

Cap on bidders removed

To attract more players to bid for stations, the cap of six bidders per station has now been removed, he added. This has resulted in larger number of players participating in several projects.

The qualification request for projects that require monetising land is likely to be delayed.

On May 28, the Environment Ministry had said there was no need for a separate environmental nod for the railway station redevelopment. This would assuage concerns from potential investors regarding delays in infrastructure projects due to pending environmental clearances.

Responding to queries from participants at a conference organised by PHDCCI later in the day, Lohia said the user charges had been approved by the group of secretaries.