PCMC to also create a SPV for infrastructure and transport

Close on the heels of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s decision to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for carrying out development and transportation projects, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation is all set to follow suit.The proposal for the SPV is to be tabled at the general body (GB) meeting ,municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma said. District guardian minister Ajit Pawar has asked all the corporators of the PCMC to immediately approve the proposal. Pawar, who was in the city to lay the foundation stone for the Aundh-Ravet road last week, had said that SPV formation is necessary to raise funds for development and transportation projects. At the meeting, Pawar said that the funds raised by the SPV, in the form of loans, would neither burden the municipal corporation or citizens. He asked all corporators to clear all their doubts regarding the SPV so that it can be approved without much hurdles. Commissioner Ashish Sharma would be making a detailed presentation on the formation of SPV, how the funds would be raised and the rules and regulations under which it would function.The PCMC has also prepared a comprehensive mobility plan (CMP), which includes a proposal to implement Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) on eight main routes (covering a distance of 91 km) and development of four feeder routes by 2011. The civic body also plans to launch the metro rail project after 2011. The corporation will require over Rs 1,500 crore for implementing BRTS and feeder routes alone.For making BRTS a sustainable and financially viable project, the urban development department of the Union government has asked the civic body to come up with an advertisement and parking policy.
The PCMC invited proposals from private firms and agencies for maintenance of the 12-km stretch of the Mumbai-Pune highway from Nigdi to Dapodi on a public private partnership basis. As per the proposal, the private agencies will have to carry out maintenance of the highway as well as provide public amenities like road furniture, toilets etc. In return, the agencies will get ad rights for a period of five years. The first BRTS project in Pimpri-Chinchwad is to come up on the 12-km highway stretch.