Kozhikode railway station development picks up steam.

The tendering procedures for the development of the Kozhikode railway station will commence in January with the Ministry of Railways including the station in the first list of 25 stations in the country to be upgraded to international standards under public-private partnership (PPP) model.

Informing about the development, M.K. Raghavan, Kozhikode MP, said the Railways had said that the works would be executed under Swiss Challenge Model. It would be a major boost to the long-pending project that was announced by the UPA government in 2010, he added.

Swiss Challenge is a method wherein the government puts an unsolicited project proposal in public domain and calls bidders to come up with better or improved ones within a given time frame.

An expert committee will accept the best proposal. This model has been adopted by the government since July to redevelop 400 railway stations.

Modalities such as preparing the invitation documentation, constituting an independent committee of experts to examine tenders and project information memorandum have already begun.

The Union Ministry had assured that the tendering procedures would commence in January, Mr. Raghavan said.

THE HINDU