Archives for August 2020

IRCTC and SBI Card launch Co-branded Contactless Credit Card on RuPay Platform

In yet another initiative towards pursuance of the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister of ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’, ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make In India’ and towards fulfillment of the mission of Hon’ble Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal in achieving greater self reliance for ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’ and engaging with the world from a position of strength, IRCTC and SBI Card together launched their new Co-branded Contactless Credit Card on RuPay Platform. The new credit card was dedicated to the service of the nation today by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry.

Speaking on the occasion, Hon’ble Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal said “We are strongly committed in making Railways ‘Aatma Nirbhar’ in all the fields with ‘Make In India’ initiatives as envisaged by Hon’ble Prime Minister. The IRCTC SBI co-branded card working on RuPay Platform is one of the many “Make In India” activities undertaken by the Railways”

With the aim to offer a safe transaction environment to the customers, the new RuPay credit card is equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology whereby the users can expedite their transactions at the POS machines by just tapping the card on the machines without requiring to swipe the card.

Designed to reward frequent railway travellers, the new co-branded credit card offers the rail passengers maximum savings proposition on their travel together with exclusive benefits on retail, dining and entertainment as well as transaction fee waivers.

The Cardholders will receive up to 10% value back on 1st AC, 2nd AC, 3rd AC, Executive Chair Car & AC Chair Car bookings made at IRCTC website. The card also offers online transaction fee waiver (1% of transaction amount), 1% fuel surcharge waiver and 4 premium lounge free access at Railway stations in a year (one per quarter). The users of the card will receive 350 Bonus Reward Points upon activation of the card with a minimum spent. The users can redeem the accumulated reward points against purchase of train tickets on IRCTC’s ticketing website. In addition to savings on rail travel, the IRCTC SBI card offers several benefits for online shopping portals. Customers can avail discounts while shopping at e-commerce sites.

With RuPay’s increasing market share and gaining popularity among Indian customers, the RuPay powered IRCTC SBI Cobranded Credit Card is yet another step to provide RuPay users a delightful shopping experience.

The new co-branded credit card together substantiates the commitment of IRCTC, SBI Card and RuPay for promoting the Digital India initiatives and aims to ensure a safe, convenient and improved travel experience for the rail passengers.

Redevelopment of CSMT Railway Station

Request for Qualification (RFQ) for redevelopment of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (Mumbai) on PPP has been invited by IRSDC vide NIT published on 20.08.2020

The RFQ document is available on http://irsdc.enivida.com/

After the in principle approval of Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) for the redevelopment of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (Mumbai) Railway Station on PPP mode, Request for Qualification (RFQ) for redevelopment of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (Mumbai) on PPP has been invited by IRSDC vide NIT published on 20.08.2020. The RFQ document is available on http://irsdc.enivida.com/. The Pre Bid Conference is scheduled to take place on 22.09.2020. The Application due date is 22.10.2020.

The Applicants fulfilling the Eligibility Criteria shall be shortlisted for participating in further stage. The entire bidding procedure is a two-stage bidding process consisting of RFQ and Request for Proposal (RFP). The selected bidder at the RFP stage shall take up the redevelopment of the Railway station and commercial development of the surrounding railway land on leasehold basis upto 60 years for commercial development and upto 99 years for residential development on selected plots, along with operation and maintenance of the station for 60 years on concession basis. The user charge will also be another continuous source of revenue to the concessioner which will be available just after the Commercial Operation Date (COD) of the station.

The planning has been done by M/s AREP from France and discussions have been held with various stakeholders on periodic basis. The redevelopment cost of the station (mandatory cost) including the cost of financing and contingency etc. is Rs. 1642 crore. The investment opportunity for redevelopment is on DBFOT (Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer) basis.

The Key salient features of the project are:

1. In principle approval of PPPAC comprising representatives from Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Law, Niti Aayog, Ministry of Railways etc, as per the Guidelines for PPP projects by Govt. of India;

2. The eligibility criteria is in terms of financial capacity at the RFQ stage and the net worth / ACI should be Rs 821 cr at the close of preceding financial year;

3. The construction and O&M experience capacity shall have to be met after the award of project but before the appointed date;

4. Extended O&M period of railway stations: For providing better passenger services and amenities, railway stations shall be on license with Concessionaire for 60 years;

5. Additional revenue stream: Pre-determined user charges (as notified by MoR) from railway station users as in practice in airports etc;

6. Long Term lease-rights for real estate: Upto 99 years for residential or mix use format & 60 years for non-residential formats. Upto 2.54 lakh sqm of Built up Area (tentative) is allowed for commercial development. Exact built up area allowed shall be known at the RFP stage;

7. No Change in Land use is required;

8. No prior environmental clearance is required from Ministry of Environment and Forest;

9. IRSDC will be a single window for approval of master plan and building plans in consultation with local authorities in terms of power conferred under Section 11 of Railway Act, 1989;

10. Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) or Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) are also eligible to participate; and

11. All Applicants who meet the qualification criteria shall be eligible to submit price bid at RFP stage, i.e., there is no upper cap for shortlisting of Applicants for RFP stage.

Follow IRSDC social media handles on Twitter (@irsdcinfo), Facebook (facebook.com/IRSDC) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/ indian-railway-stations-development-corporation-limited) for recent updates. Do check our website: irsdc.in

First Cargo Express of Indian Railways

SCR flagged off the First Cargo Express of Indian Railways – First of its kind scheduled Freight Train between Hyderabad and New Delhi flagged from Sanathnagar

With a view to enhance the Railways freight basket, South Central Railway has introduced “Cargo Express”, which is first of its kind and innovative concept over Indian Railways. Under this concept, SCR has announced a Time Tabled freight train between Sanath Nagar in Hyderabad to Adarsh Nagar in New Delhi as a pilot project for a period of Six months and would be running the “Cargo Express” once a week every Wednesday. Accordingly, the first cargo express has been flagged off today i.e., on 05th August, 2020 from Sanath Nagar in Hyderabad.

Generally, bulk commodities in huge quantities are being transported by rail in freight trains. But in the recent past, there is a gradual increase in the market for transportation on non-bulk segments. In order to attract this segment of traffic, South Central Railway has come up with this unique concept of Cargo Express, where in different freight customers holding various types of commodities can avail this facility by indenting a minimum of single wagon also. So, aggregating this general cargo in to a single train is mutually beneficial to both Railways as well the freight customers. It is almost 40% lesser than charges applicable by Road and also the existing railway parcel tariff.

The first Cargo Express left Sanathnagar today i.e., 05th August 2020 and will move at an average speed of 50 KMPH and will reach the destination, Anand Nagar, Delhi as per schedule on Friday. The movement of this train can be tracked through FOIS network.

On this occasion, Shri Gajanan Mallya, General Manager appreciated the officers and staff of the Zone involved in materializing this new concept, which is for the first time on Indian Railways. He advised he freight customers, and cargo aggregators to avail this facility which is mutually beneficial. He also stated that Railways is the safest and cheapest mode of transport as compare to other modes.

For any queries in this regard or to register and book the wagons freight customers and interested parties can seek help from phone numbers: 9701371976 or 040-27821393, which are available round-the-clock helpline