E-Paper
Indian Railways to dissolve IRSDC after Centre's recommendation
IRSDC, the nine-year-old special purpose vehicle, is a joint venture between the Indian Railway Land Development Authority and IRCON. The closure is based on the recommendation of Principal Economic Advisor of Finance Ministry Sanjeev Sanyal.
The Indian Railways has ordered to dissolve Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC). This was informed in a letter the Railway Board issued on Monday.
In a communication to all General Managers, the board ordered that all necessary procedural formalities for closure of IRSDC should be initiated.
This is in line with recommendation from the cabinet secretariat to integrate, and undertake structural reforms in various bodies under Railways Ministry. It had also suggested merger of various railway's institutions.
These recommendations were part of a report on the Rationalisation of Government Bodies under the Ministry of Railways prepared by Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance.
"The stations managed by IRSDC shall be handed over to respective Zonal Railways and all the projects related documents shall be handed over to respective Zonal Railways by IRSDC. Zonal Railways will further develop the stations' projects," the letter from the Railway Board said.
With this step, IRSDC is the second organisation under the Ministry of Railways to be shut down after the closure of the Indian Railways Organisation for Alternative Fuel (IROAF) on September 7, 2021.
IRSDC, the nine-year-old special purpose vehicle (SPV), is a joint venture between the Indian Railway Land Development Authority and IRCON.
To fast track the redevelopment of railway stations and harness the true value of commercial development, many tools have been developed by IRSDC during its nine-year journey to streamline all processes for planning, designing, tendering, implementation and management of railway stations in India.
The recommendations made by Sanyal in his report also talked about upgrading all 125 railway hospitals and bringing railway schools under the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).
On the merger of PSUs, Sanjeev Sanyal's report pointed out the overlaps in the functions of Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).
