Ginger, CCD among bidders for railway's multi functional complexes

Tata Group's Ginger Hotels, Pantaloon and Cafe Coffee Day are among the top bidders for 43 multi functional complexes (MFCs) offered for development by the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) for generating revenues from vacant railway land.

Several firms including The Loot, Woodland, Apodis Hospitality, Krishnan Palace Residency, WH Smith, Fidalgo, Suba International, and Jumbo King were bidding for the 15 out of 43 MFCs offered so far.

RLDA general manager A. K. Gupta, told reports here Thursday that the MFCs are proposed at various railway stations including Dehradun, Ujjain, Anand, Somnath, Gulbarga, Vijayawada, Amritsar, Amethi and Chandigarh. RLDA, a statutory authority established by the railways ministry, has planned MFCs at railway stations. These centralised complexes will have amenities like budget hotels wherever feasible, shopping stores, restaurants, book stalls, ATMs, medical stores and parking space.

RLDA held a pre-bid conference here Thursday for development of MFCs at eight railway stations in Andhra Pradesh. Real estate consultants Knight Frank India has partnered with RLDA in planning and marketing MFC sites.

The bid amount varies from Rs.1 crore to Rs.10 crore depending upon the location. The successful bidder will get the land on a 45-year lease. After the lease period, the MFCs will be transferred back to the railways. RLDA has identified 164 sites for developing MFCs at various railway stations across the country. Gupta was confident that RLDA would raise Rs.300 crore to Rs.400 crore from these sites. RLDA on its own has developed 26 MFCs, jointly with Ircon Infrastructure & Services Limited and RITES Limited. It plans to lease out these MFCs located at stations like Haridwar, Udaipur, Raipur, Madurai, Allahabad Jabalpur, Burdwan, Manmad and Guntur.

The RLDA expects to raise Rs.1,000 crore by offering 502 hectares of unused railway land at 54 places outside the railway stations. These lands are suitable for shopping malls, offices, hotels and other commercial purposes.

Knight Frank India has been appointed as marketing consultant for the MFCs to be developed in western and southern India. It will be responsible for conducting site visits, coordinating collaterals, expression of interest from developers, as well as managing the bid process. "We have approached various service providers and vendors like banks, hoteliers, F&B sector, pharma retaliers etc, and have found them all very excited about the MFCs as a unique opportunity to directly connect to their consumers," said Gulam Zia, executive director- Advisory, Retail & Hospitality, Knight Frank India.