NEW DELHI: The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved to cut the railway land licensing fee by three-fourth — from 6% to 1.5% of market value of land per annum — for setting up cargo-related projects for 35 years, which can be extended up to another 35 years.
This change in railway land policy will now speed up the sale of the Centre’s stake in the state-owned Container Corporation India (Concor). This will help strategic buyers pay much less amount as land rental, which was one of the key suggestions by the investment advisors of Concor.
Currently, such leases are for only five years. The Indian Railways has around 60,000 hectares of vacant land, predominantly along the rail tracks and the Concor has around 250 hectares spread over 26 locations across the country. The change in policy comes at a time when the government has set the target to develop 300 new cargo terminals in the next five years.
Officials said the existing players will continue to pay 6% unless they decide to participate in the bidding process for the new 1.5% base rate. “If they participate in bidding, they will have the right of first refusal. This means if any other bidder quotes a better fee, then the existing licensee will be asked to match it. If it refuses to match it, the bidder quoting the maximum will get it,” said a source.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vashnaw said, “The approval of the new railways land policy for the PM GatiShakti framework will result in multifold growth in logistics infrastructure of the country.”
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the setting up of 300 cargo terminals will generate around 1.25 lakh jobs.
Thakur said apart from leasing the land for cargo terminals, these land parcels would also be used for setting up social infrastructures such as hospitals on public-private partnership (PPP) mode and for establishment of schools through Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. In these cases, the land licence fee will be barely Re 1 per square meter per annum.
The fee will also be minimal for setting up solar plants on railway land. The railway panels can be installed along the railway tracks.
The government said the new policy simplifies railways’ land use and Right of Way (RoW) for integrated development of public service utilities like electricity, gas, water supply, sewage disposal and urban transport by providing railway land at a lower rate. “For optical fibre cables (OFC) and other smaller diameter underground utilities, a one-time fee of Rs 1,000 will be charged for crossing railway track,” it said.
This change in railway land policy will now speed up the sale of the Centre’s stake in the state-owned Container Corporation India (Concor). This will help strategic buyers pay much less amount as land rental, which was one of the key suggestions by the investment advisors of Concor.
Currently, such leases are for only five years. The Indian Railways has around 60,000 hectares of vacant land, predominantly along the rail tracks and the Concor has around 250 hectares spread over 26 locations across the country. The change in policy comes at a time when the government has set the target to develop 300 new cargo terminals in the next five years.
Officials said the existing players will continue to pay 6% unless they decide to participate in the bidding process for the new 1.5% base rate. “If they participate in bidding, they will have the right of first refusal. This means if any other bidder quotes a better fee, then the existing licensee will be asked to match it. If it refuses to match it, the bidder quoting the maximum will get it,” said a source.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vashnaw said, “The approval of the new railways land policy for the PM GatiShakti framework will result in multifold growth in logistics infrastructure of the country.”
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the setting up of 300 cargo terminals will generate around 1.25 lakh jobs.
Thakur said apart from leasing the land for cargo terminals, these land parcels would also be used for setting up social infrastructures such as hospitals on public-private partnership (PPP) mode and for establishment of schools through Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. In these cases, the land licence fee will be barely Re 1 per square meter per annum.
The fee will also be minimal for setting up solar plants on railway land. The railway panels can be installed along the railway tracks.
The government said the new policy simplifies railways’ land use and Right of Way (RoW) for integrated development of public service utilities like electricity, gas, water supply, sewage disposal and urban transport by providing railway land at a lower rate. “For optical fibre cables (OFC) and other smaller diameter underground utilities, a one-time fee of Rs 1,000 will be charged for crossing railway track,” it said.
