'Mahratta Chamber sees good prospects this year'

The demand for an international airport by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture's (MCCIA's) auto cluster initiative kick off was fulfilled in 2005.

Satisfied with his accomplishments in the previous year, Ravi Pandit, president of MCCIA is raring to get more in the year 2006, he tells Business Standard.

What do you see as the major growth drivers for the city in the new year?

There are four major growth drivers for Pune - (1) The city is transforming into an IT-ITeS hub. In fact, the growth is recommendable, as we are gaining a leadership position in the ITeS domain; (2) It is an important engineering and manufacturing hub, which according to a recent report published by our economic research wing, shows that there are 128 new proposals for setting new manufacturing operations in Pune over the past 5 years; (3) The education segment - Colleges and universities here, are attracting a large number of new people to the city, which are then adding to the city's vibrant culture.

Lastly, the agri-business segment with over 1100 units is also a huge contributor to the city's growth. The other projects planned are, an International Exhibition Centre spread across a 175-hectare land at Moshi.

The preliminary report for this has already come in and we expect the formalities to be completed in the next two years. We are partnering with the MIDC and Pune Municipal Corporation for the same.

Can you tell us what to look forward to in 2006?

In February this year, we will be launching our IT services directory. Then, by June this year a guide book and a website, the first of its kind in the country, on the city will be launched.

We have already released the first economic research report in the series of four, on growth drivers of the city; the other three reports will be published in the coming year.

This initiative is another first for the chamber and also one of its kind in the country. We are also helping the Pune University in revamping its syllabus for the IT-ITeS courses, as this is a much-needed requirement for growth of the industry.

How is the auto cluster project faring?

On January 20, the auto cluster project will finally take birth, as we do the bhoomipujan at Chichwad. This is a Rs 70-crore project, funded by the central government, Maharashtra Industry Development Corporation (MIDC) and MCCIA.

The cluster will give the much-needed impetus to take Pune's auto and auto-component industry to the next level.

Are you planning anything to promote the small and medium enterprises (SMEs)?

In May, we will open a centre for SMEs in memory of Late A R Bhatt. It will be on the lines of centres in Japan and Germany and will be the first such in India.

It will undertake focused research for SMEs, come out with policy recommendations, do case building and promote the entrepreneurship culture.

There seems to be no solution coming forth on the power and infrastructure issues. What are you doing on this front?

The chamber's role is limited to that of creating awareness. I agree that these are major bottlenecks we face, but are adapting a more focused approach in taking these initiatives up.