The Indian Railways announced a project that will see Habibganj Station in Madhya Pradesh be transformed with a pod hotel and a full redevelopment of the area. The station’s redevelopment is set to cost approximately Rs. 100 crore but the commercial development in the area will cost around Rs. 350 crore. The Indian Railways will be building a pod hotel with energy efficiency and sustainability in mind.
The new station and pod hotel will make use of hospitality LED lighting in order to reduce power consumption. In addition to energy-efficient lighting, Indian Railways is also taking measures to reduce water wastage. A new waste water treatment plant will be introduced which will allow any unused water to be re-filtered and reused.
The redevelopment project is currently in the bidding stage. The IRSDC invited bidders for the redevelopment program for Habibganj. The new redevelopment program with energy efficient lighting and water treatment is not the first of its kind. The railways department has already invested in similar projects at Sabarmati, Nagpur and Gwalior. The redevelopment program is being headed under the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee. More stations are expected to undergo similar redevelopment in 2020.
