Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is a statutory Authority, under the Ministry of Railways, set-up by an Amendment to the Railways Act, 1989, for development of vacant Railway Land for commercial use for the purpose of generating revenue by non-tariff measures. RLDA has since been constituted in terms of Extraordinary Gazette Notification dated 31.10.2006, as amended on 5.1.2007. The Rules for functioning of RLDA have also been notified in the Extraordinary Gazette dated 4.1.2007. Indian Railways (IR) has approximately 43,000 hectares of vacant land. Land which is not required for operational purposes in the foreseeable future would be identified by the zonal railways and the details thereof would be advised to Railway Board. Such plots of land would thereafter be entrusted to RLDA by Railway Board in phases for commercial development.