PM Modi to lay foundation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus redevelopment

In a significant milestone for Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday would lay the foundation stone of the redevelopment of the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

The CSMT houses the headquarters of the Central Railway (CR).

The redevelopment of the CSMT is planned with a view to decongesting the southern heritage node of the terminus, augmentation of facilities, better multi-modal integration, and conserving and restoring the world-famous iconic structure to its past glory.

The project will be done at a cost of over Rs 1,800 crores, officials said on Tuesday.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus Station is an outstanding example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture in India, blended with themes deriving from Indian traditional architecture.

The building, designed by the British architect F W Stevens, became the symbol of Bombay as the ‘Gothic City’ and the major international mercantile port of India.

The terminal was built over 10 years, starting in 1878, according to a High Victorian Gothic design based on late medieval Italian models.

Its remarkable stone dome, turrets, pointed arches and eccentric ground plan are close to traditional Indian palace architecture. It is an outstanding example of the meeting of two cultures, as British architects worked with Indian craftsmen to include Indian architectural tradition and idioms thus forging a new style unique to Bombay.

This was the first terminus station in the subcontinent and became a commercial palace representing the economic wealth of the nation, according to Unesco.