While details on pricing haven't yet been worked out, Mantri said that his group will look to capitalize on the project by going in for large-scale commercial development.

"The residential component will be very small compared to the commercial element," Mantri said.

Of the land parcel, 4.5ha is already built up with staff quarters and service buildings, which have to be redeveloped by the winning bidder according to conditions laid down by RLDA.

Further, while 71% of the plot will be for new residential accommodation, totalling 2.3 million sq. ft, only 10% of the land--approximately 330,000 sq. ft--has been reserved for commercial development, while 91,564 sq. ft will be used for amenities.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, one of the consultants empanelled by RLDA, the winning bid in the last auction was for Rs1,076 crore. This time, though, RLDA is looking to keep valuations attractive for the developers, many of whom are just staggering out from the slowdown.

"While they haven't yet finalized the reserve price for the auction this time, the RLDA has increased the FAR (floor-area ratio) from 1.67 earlier to two," said Santhosh Kumar, chief executive officer, operations, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.

The pre-bid meeting also discussed on how to cancel the earlier bid and the payment schedule for the current bid.

Given the jinxed history of the plot, industry watchers believe the process may be easier this time around. "From the railways point of view, there should be enough experience to realize what developers want because there is a capital crunch," said Anshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director, South Asia, CB Richard Ellis, a realty consultancy. "But certainly, it's a good time to put it in the market as there is more interest now compared to last year."

The authority is also considering changing some of the bid criteria, such as huge upfront payments, based on bidders' suggestions, Sharma said.