On record
India's flagship New Delhi station redevelopment has gone through repeated tender failures since 2021 because bidders quoted far higher prices than the government's allotted budget, forcing the Rail Land Development Authority to shrink the scope of work and break the project into smaller tenders multiple times. As of late 2024 the project cost had been slashed by roughly 84% from its original estimate with no fixed completion date, even though the station handles about 400 trains and 450,000 passengers daily.
The official record states: "RLDA officials said bidders "quoted much higher price than the allotted cost," necessitating repeated rescoping and re-tendering rather than any technical justification for the redesign."
“The country's flagship station redevelopment keeps failing at tender because nobody will build it for the price.”— Blunderlust Editorial Desk
Sources
- https://swarajyamag.com/infrastructure/new-delhi-railway-station-revamp-project-cost-revised-to-rs-2469-crore-after-multiple-failed-attempts-to-secure-bidders
- https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/new-delhi-railway-station-redevelopment-tender-reissued-says-rlda-124101401070_1.html
Visitor reviews Satire
“Fifteen thousand crore in 2021, two and a half thousand by 2024, and four hundred trains a day still using the old building.”
“Every tender has failed because the bidders price it higher than the budget, so the plan keeps getting smaller instead.”
“Four and a half lakh passengers a day pass through a station whose redevelopment has been rescoped more often than announced.”
