The modernisation of the New Delhi railway station which was facing opposition from civic agencies and the environment ministry will get a breather as K M Chandrashekar, Union Cabinet Secretary, has decided to intervene in the matter.
The secretary hopes to resolve the issues and speed up the work on the project which has been delayed since two years.
Civic agencies have refused approval to commercially utilise around 11 lakh sq mtrs around the station, as envisaged in the Rs 6,000 crore project. With commercial development at the station likely to greatly increase traffic flow, civic agencies were apprehensive of the traffic evacuation plan as the area around the station is already choked.
As per the proposed plan, there will be retail outlets, restaurants, currency and exchange counters, cyber cafes, food court, banking with ATM facilities and car rentals at the station. The Indian Railways hopes to raise around Rs 5,000 crore through private investment for the project. Private investment was being invited for development of restaurants, mini-malls and budget hotels for passengers.
Source : ProjectsToday
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