One Station One Product
Nageswara Rao 9492432160
Each Railway Station is a Promotional hub for showcasing local products.
Announced in Union Budget 2022-23
Part of Atma Nirbhar Project
Provide enhanced livelihood and welfare of local artisans, potters, weavers, handloom weavers, tribals etc.
Indirectly benefit Station development too.
SPV – Special Purpose
Vehicle
Key Takeaways
ü Separate legal entity
ü To achieve specific objectives/goals
ü Isolated from the firm
ü Can leverage future earnings to
raise funds
Salient
features
·
Definition of SPV – A
fenced organization having limited predefined purposes and a legal personality.
·
Also called as SPE – Special
Purpose Entity (in USA) or SPC – Special Purpose Corporation or FVC – Financial
Vehicle Corporation
·
A
legal entity created to fulfil single, well defined and narrow
objective/purpose.
·
Typically
used by firms to isolate the firm from financial risk
· · Primarily, a business association of persons or entities eligible to participate in the association.
·
Usually formed to raise funds from the market
by collateralizing future receivables.
·
It
is independent of members subscribing to the shares of SPV.
·
Concept: Usually, a sponsoring firm
hives off or transfers its assets or activities from the rest of the company
into an SPV. This isolation of assets is important for providing comfort to
investors. The assets or activities are distanced from the parent company;
hence the performance of the new entity will not be affected by the ups and
downs of the originating entity. The SPV will be subject to fewer risks and
thus provide greater comfort to the lenders.
·
Basically, a company can leverage future earnings to
raise funds.
Advantages:
ü Separating the risk.
ü Protected against risks like insolvency.
ü Best suited for Project financing.
Examples of SPVs in India
1.
NHSRC
- National High Speed Rail Corporation. The Company has been modelled as
‘Special Purpose Vehicle’ in the joint sector with equity participation by
Central Government through Ministry of Railways and two State Governments viz.
Government of Gujarat and Government of Maharashtra.
2.
LTMRHL
– Larsen & Toubro Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited (for Hyderabad Metro)
3.
IRSDC
- Indian Railways Station Development Corporation ltd (by RLDA & IRCON)
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RLDA - Rail Land Development Authority
Source: RLDA Website
RLDA - Rail Land Development Authority
Setup in the year 2006 as a Statutory Authority under the Ministry of Railways set up by an Amendment to the Railways Act, 1989.
Vision:: To emerge as India's leading Public Land Development Authority.
Mission: Development of Land/Air Space entrusted to the Authority on sound commercial principles for generation of non-tariff revenue and creation of assets for Indian Railways.
Object behind the set up of RLDA
The need for considerable increase in internal generation of resources for such investment had been realized by the Indian Railways for some time.
Indian Railways is the biggest landlord in India having nearly 10.65 Lakh acres across all over the country.
Indian Railways (IR) has approximately 43,000 hectares of vacant land. Land which is not required for operational purposes in the foreseeable future would be identified by the zonal railways and the details thereof would be advised to the Railway Board.
Generation of Non-tariff revenue by development of 43,000 hectares of vacant land for commercial purposes
Creation of Infrastructure assets for Indian Railways.
Member, Infrastructure, Railway Board is the Ex-officio Chairman of the RLDA.
RLDA’s expenses are met out of grants provided by Indian Railways. The entire earnings generated from development of railway land is transferred by RLDA to Indian Railways.
Total Assets of RLDA as on 31st March 2024 - Rs. 2,045 Crores
Excess of Income over Expenditure as on 31st March 2024 - Rs. 43 Crore
There is a scope of big jump in the earnings of RLDA, since many sites and MFC's will be come into function.
Authorisation of vacant land to RLDA - stages
Land which is not required for operational purposes in the foreseeable future - identified by the Zonal Railways.
Once identified, the details of such vacant land would be advised to Rly. Board.
Such plots of land would thereafter be entrusted to RLDA by the Railway Board in phases for commercial Development.
Commercial development of vacant railway land - steps:
Inspection of the sites to ensure that these are free from any encumbrances/encroachments and are prima-facie suitable for commercial development.
Survey done for each individual plot of land by engaging a reputed real estate consultant to identify the possibility of commercial development.
Once identified potential revenue from such site, call for an EOI - Expression of Interest or RFP - Request For Proposal from Developers for commercial development through the PPP route ( Public Private Partnership)
Awarded the site to the Developer through the Open Bidding process.
. Identified 138 sites so far and they are at different stages for development as
Commercial places.
M F C - MULTI FUNCTIONAL COMPLEX:
Apart from development of vacant Railway land on commercial lines, Railways planned to utilize AIR SPACE over Railway Assets such as Railway Stations for generation of Non-tariff Revenue.
MFC's will provide facilities like Shopping, Food stalls/Restaurants, Book stalls, PCO Booths, ATMs, Budget Hotels, Parking spaces etc at Railway stations.
MFC's will given to PSUs i.e., RVNL, IRCON , RITES (through MOU - Memorandum Of Understanding) and to Private players (through Open bidding process) - Lease basis on upfront lease premium or Revenue sharing for a period of 30 to 45 years.
After the lease period, MFCs would be transferred to the railways. Thus a good opportunity for Railways in regard to creation of infrastructure assets.
So far sanctioned 163 MFCs, redevelopment of 5 Railway Stations and 14 Railway Colonies.
Real estate consultants like Knight Frank and JLL are advising RLDA in planning and marketing the MFCs sites.
Several leading brands, retail, hotel chains and developers have expressed their interest in MFCs being developed by RLDA and prominent among them are Pantaloon, Cafe Coffee Day, The Loot, Woodland, Apodis Hospitality, Krishna Palace Residency, WH Smith (Travel News Services).
MFCs at 26 railway stations developed jointly with IRCON ISL (Infrastructure & Services Ltd) and RITES have already been completed and are waiting for being leased out, prominent places being Haridwar, Udaipur,Raipur, Madurai, Allahabad, Jabalpur, Burdwan, Manmad, Guntur.
RLDA has prepared a plan for fast-tracking the development of 75 complexes.
Development of Railway Stations
RLDA has also been entrusted by the Ministry of Railways for development of five railway stations at Chandigarh, Anand Vihar (Delhi), Bijwasan (Delhi), Habibganj (Bhopal) and Shivajinagar (Pune) into modern railway stations with excellent facilities for rail users.
These stations are being developed through IRSDC - Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Ltd., a joint venture company created by IRCON and RLDA in which the former is the majority partner.
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Innovative and Transformation Cell – Indian Railways
Transformation Cell Constituted by Railway Board on 09.03.2017. New name is Innovative & Transformation Cell. The Cell works under the Railway Board, often in consultation with NITI Aayog, Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), and other strategic bodies. Coordination is ensured with Railway PSUs, RDSO, and zones for seamless adoption and replication of innovations.
During the period from 2017 Oct to 2018 Oct - Nearly 158 Circulars are issued. That means, On an average 12 circulars are being issued every month or 3 circulars every week ,which is remarkable.
PED - Principal Executive Director is in charge of the Transformation Cell. Under him 8 Executive Directors work, drawn from different disciplines like Traffic, Engineering, Mechanical, Electrical, Personnel, Accounts ,etc.
It hires young professionals — MBAs, BTechs, CAs — from the private sector to assist.
It overrides all the other existing directorates.
Mandated with the implementation of 55 new ideas
Story behind formation: Railways had crowd sourced ideas of reformation ,from its 13 lakh employees and has received 1.5 lakh suggestions on issues regarding cleanliness, improving passenger amenities, safety of the railway employees, increasing earnings from freight and processing of making journey in Indian railways a pleasant experience for its 23 million passengers .
125 sq m prefabricated office on a third-floor terrace - earmarked for Transformation Cell - which is not far from the cabins of the members and chairman of the Railway Board — the highest decision making body of the Indian Railways (IR). The new hall is designed to give a look and feel of a corporate office — a common area surrounded by 9 sq m cabins, each meant for one Executive Director.
To infuse new ideas and adopt latest technologies that can bring a change in the working of railways, the Indian Railways is in the process of creating a new Transformation Directorate which works to implement the suggestions made during Rail Vikas Shivir which was attended by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in November 2016.
During the last two years, four directorates have been created to look into specific areas. These include ,non fare revenue, mobility, environment and heritage.
Improving financial health of the railways and providing world class amenities to passengers are the top most agendas of the Government. The ministry has been having regular meetings with Niti Aayog to carry out reforms in Indian Railways.
Objectives: To promote innovation, modernization, and efficiency in the functioning of Indian Railways. The aim is to bring in fresh ideas, disruptive technologies, and transformation strategies across various functional areas.
Collaboration: With startups, PSUs, and technology providers to solve railway challenges & promote cost-effective solutions and ease of doing business within Railways.
Major Focus areas:
Passenger Amenities and Services
Digitization and Automation
Railway Infrastructure Modernization
Safety Enhancement
Energy Efficiency and Green Initiatives
AI, Big Data, and IoT Integration
Innovative HR and Training Approaches
Working Mechanism: Acts as a nodal point for ideation, review, and execution of innovative proposals. Ideas are sourced through competitions, hackathons, and open calls from employees and the public. Cross-functional teams evaluate feasibility and suggest pilot implementation. Regular monitoring and scaling up of successful innovations across zones/divisions.
Achievements so far
MSOP - Model Schedule Of Powers
GCC for Services
Re Engagement of Retired personnel & engagement of consultants
Railway Innovation Portal: Platform to crowdsource ideas from employees and public.
Startup Collaboration under 'Startups for Railways' policy to fund and support technology-based solutions.
AI-driven predictive maintenance tools and smart yard management systems.
Passenger-centric apps and digital complaint redressal systems.
