Cabinet approves railway plans to commercially develop land, air space at stations

New Delhi, Oct 3: Paving the way for large-scale modernization of railway stations, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Railways' station redevelopment plans so as to commercially develop space in and around stations, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Wednesday.

Developing railway facilities will not only benefit the commuters but also help the Indian Railways make use of its unused or under-used properties.

"It was a decisions based on the feedbacks collected from the government's earlier railway modernisation attempts," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The Minister said redevelopment of major stations across the country is planned by leveraging commercial development of land and air space in and around the station, saying "this program will help provide state-of-the-art amenities for passengers, generate additional revenues and will be overall at least cost neutral to Ministry of Railways over a basket of stations."

Cabinet approves two Metro rail projects in poll-bound MP

The Union Cabinet approved on Wednesday two Metro rail projects in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh -- in Indore and Bhopal.

The Indore project will run along the Ring Line (Bengali Square - Vijay Nagar - Bhawarsala - Airport - Patasia - Bengali Square).

The total number of stations on the line are 30. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 7,500.80 crore and the project will be completed in four years.

Cabinet Nod to Station Redevelopment

Construction of residential complexes will now be allowed around railway stations as part of an ambitious redevelopment programme of the Indian Railways approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, a source said.

The source said the approval for residential complexes is not a blanket one, but will be decided on a case-to-case basis.

Senior railway officials said allowing residential development along with commercial development as part of the project will enhance its commercial viability
While the Cabinet approval was obtained on June 24, 2015 to redevelop 'A1' and 'A' category stations (with higher earnings and footfalls) by zonal railways for a lease period of 45 years, it failed to take off.

Govt clears MoU to boost cooperation among India-Russia MSMEs

The government approved the signing of an agreement to promote cooperation between the small and medium enterprises of India and Russia, which will open more opportunities for Indian MSME sector by way of new markets, joint ventures, sharing of best practices and technology collaborations.

The pact was signed between National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC) - a Public Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) and JSC - Russian Small & Medium Business Corporation (RSMB Corporation).

PTI