IRSDC conducts roundtable conference on ‘Attracting greater Private Investments and Commercial Development Projects on Railway Land’

Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Ltd. (IRSDC) a 50:50 JV company of RLDA and IRCON (RITES also likely to join the JV with 24% equity out of IRCON’s share shortly), in collaboration with Invest India and Primus Partners conducted an exclusive Roundtable Conference on ‘Attracting greater Private Investments and Commercial Development Projects on Railway Land’ on July 1, 2020 via Video Conference.

  • The aim of the Roundtable Conference was to provide a platform to key stakeholders from industry to understand existing partnership formats of IRSDC for commercial development and discuss the alternate project structures that can be leveraged post the COVID-19 crisis.
  • The Conference was chaired by MD & CEO, IRSDC, Sh. S.K. Lohia. Roundtable session received immense participation from about 12-15 key industry leaders.

Mr. Rajeev Talwar, CEO, DLF Ltd.; Mr. Niranjan Hiranandani, Co-founder and MD, Hiranandani Group; Mr. Rajan Bandelkar, MD, Raunak Group; Mr. Sriram Chitturi, CEO, Shanders Properties & Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. and Gesture Group; Mr. Shyamrup Roy Choudhury , COO-Affordable Housing, Adani Reality; Mr. Sanjay Dutt, MD, Tata Housing; Mr. Anshul Singhal, MD, Welspun One Logistics; Princess Sanyogita, Chairperson & MD, SG 18 Realty Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. S.K. Syal, CEO, Bharti Realty; Mr. Manjit laju, President, Pioneer Urban Land and Infrastructure Ltd.; Mr. Pradeep Aggareval, Founder & Chairman, Signature Global and Mr. Rohit Poddar, MD, Poddar Housing and Development were among the key participants in the conference.

MD & CEO, IRSDC briefly presented the overview of ongoing IRSDC projects and the future road map during the Roundtable followed by open discussion among IRSDC officials and industry stakeholders. 

The Roundtable session successfully addressed the issues of Developers, Market and Investors and suggestions were also invited to create a seamless operating structure.

The participants also applauded the efforts of IRSDC and MoR, Govt. of India for achieving landmark strides and addressing most of the issues raised by them in earlier consultation with Hon’ble Minister for Railways in a short span of time. IRSDC as single window approval agency and concession authority would be a great confidence booster to private sector. With the support of Hon’ble Minister, MoR, IRSDC has been able to venture into PPP projects and has also achieved the support of big industry leaders during the course of action.

Some of the key takeaways of the Roundtable session were-

  • Understanding the Existing Partnership Formats of IRSDC for Commercial Development and Opportunities.
  • Opportunities which can be leveraged in Post Covid times, the Alternate Project Structures.
  • Measures that can be taken to ease cashflows for Developers which in turn will improve the conditions for financing the Project.
  • Suggestions for improving contract conditions for Developers to make it more attractive for Developers.
  • Provision of IRSDC becoming equity partner in the big station redevelopment projects.
  • Opportunities for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
  • Understanding the Exit provisions for the developer, in the Concession Agreement for Station Redevelopment along with commercial development.

Source: IRSDC-Press Note