Pune plans Rs 6,500 crore makeover to woo investors

City to ramp up roads, start bus rapid transport system

New roads, a mass transit system and more gardens "" all these and more are part of the mega plans that Pune has up its sleeve to woo investments and also to host the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games.

The city has got a sanction of Rs 6,500 crore over the next 5-7 years under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The phase I plans require funds of Rs 3,500 crore to be spent over the next three years. It has already got an approval of Rs 1,100 crore.

The utilisation of the approved funds will be for putting in place the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRT), beautifying of the city's water bodies and for a slum upgradation project. "Of the Rs 1,100 crore, we will spend Rs 250 crore till March 2007," Nitin Kareer, commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), told Business Standard.

Detailing the investments for the Rs 1,100 crore, he said, "A large chunk, ie Rs 550 crore, will be spent on implementation of the BRT, Rs 300 crore for beautifying of 10 nalas and two rivers, and Rs 250 crore for the slums upgradation project."

In the coming month, the PMC will incept the BRT pilot project covering 13.2 kilometre (km) from Hadapsar to Katraj, following which it will start work on phase I of the BRT stretching over 55 km and phase II covering 70 km.

The phase I will cover all the arterial roads including a new road from Warje to Kharadi. "We have already got the approvals from the Centre for the phase I and have issued the tenders for the same," said Kareer while adding that they were in the process of finalising the plans for phase II and would submit the same to the government in a month.

However, the implementation of the BRT is facing resistance from the political parties including the National Congress Party, Bhartiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena, who want more transparency in its implementation.

Kareer points out to the fact that this is the first time that such a system is going to be implemented in the country and, therefore, implementation issues would be there. An open public meeting on November 3 will be held to discuss the issues, he added.

The PMC is also on track to meet its target of having 100 gardens in Pune within the fiscal year. "Currently, there are 76 gardens in the city and by March 2007 we will have 100 gardens," said Kareer.