Indian Railways, which is, by far, the largest holder of land in the country, is also perhaps the most mismanaged when it comes to raking in revenue from these huge tracts of land.
Indian Railways has approximately 10.65 lakh acres of land, of which about 90 per cent is being used for railway operations and allied purposes. The total vacant Railway land at present is about 1.13 lakh acres.
While several land utilisation projects have been proposed, most are either pending for approval before the Cabinet or encroached upon. And, the land that has been put to use brings in only meagre revenues.
To ensure that vacant land is put to better use, the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) was set up in November 2006 and potentially commercial land was put under its custody.
“In the initial years, the RLDA conducted surveys to identify potential uses of the land. However, the norm was to get Cabinet clearance before any government asset was leased or put to commercial use. “Now, almost 15 tenders worth Rs 2,000 crore are pending. Development of 100 multi-functional complex projects, each worth Rs 10-12 crore, are stuck,” a senior Railways official said.
Railways have already moved a Cabinet note in February this year, suggesting how RLDA could be exempted from such Cabinet approvals. However, the note needs to be approved by various ministries, including Finance and the Planning Commission, making it a long-drawn and time-consuming process.
“Six proposals for setting up Rail Neer (Railways packaged drinking water) plants are pending before the Cabinet for approval. Approvals for another set of 56 properties which can be put to commercial use immediately are also pending,” an RLDA official said.