Pune
News: Pune’s PPP in power is paving
way for more such models in other
cities with many wanting to emulate
Pune to overcome power shortage
problems.
They
will now have another PPP model to
emulate. This time in the
infrastructure space. If the Promoters
and Builders Association of Pune (PBAP)
can make this venture work, they would
not only be lending a helping hand to
solve some of the city’s problems but
also give their business, always
viewed with suspicion, a good name.
Lalit
Kumar Jain, president PBAP, said that
builders and developers have gotten
together and launched PBAP Infra
Ventures with builders pooling in
capital to set up a company that would
execute small infrastructure projects,
especially roads.
Each builder is putting in Rs 25,000
each and 130 builders and developers
have so far joined in. PBAP Infra
Ventures will have a paid up capitalof
Rs 25 crore. The company could get
into projects, in the range of Rs 100
crore, using the PPP model and augment
roads in Pune.
PBAP has 250 members and with the real
estate business booming 100 more
members are expected to join this body
this year so more could be expected to
join the infrastructure venture. Pune
Municipal Corporation (PMC)
commissioner, Pravinsnh Pardeshi said
that Pune was adding 30
lakh sq
ft a year in housing alone which in
turn required investments of Rs 6,000
crore in providing infrastructure.
“The PMC can at best invest Rs 150-
300 crore from its budget which is
very limiting. Water supply alone
needs an investment of Rs 1,000 crore,”
he said. So using the PPP model was
the way out to reduce infrastructure
backlog,” Pardeshi said. Ajit Pawar,
guardian minister for Pune, also
expressed his willingness to chip in
if PPP projects came up in Pune which
addressed the city’s infrastructure
problems.
Pawar told PBAP members and the civic
bodies to plan project taking into
considerations a 20-25 year
perspective and not short term gains.
Pune needed ring roads to cope with
growing traffic and urgently needed to
clean up the effluent that was being
dumped into the city’s rivers, Pawar
suggested. In case private players
took up infrastructure projects on a
BOT basis and if there were some gaps
in financing then the government would
gladly chip in to meet the shortfall
to ensure that the projects took off,
Pawar promised.
