Pune Property Blog

Anil Pharande, Chairman – Pharande Spaces & Vice President – CREDAI (Pune Metro)

The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation was honoured by by presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Shri Prithviraj Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Shri Ajit Pawar and NCP President Shri Sharad Pawar. These distinguished dignitaries had very generously agreed to inaugurate several key infrastructure projects at PCMC:

• The new PCNTDA building near Akurdi Railway station
• The Traffic Park at Bhosari
• The flyover near Spine Road
• PCMC’s very own Nala Park
• The Science Park at Auto Cluster

We, the architects of India’s most progressive planned city, were truly inspired by the kind words of praise, encouragement and hope that these honoured guests offered at the inauguration ceremonies. It is clear that the Government has recognized Pimpri-Chinchwad as the City of the Future, and that the city can depend on the fullest support as it continues to progress.

Nevertheless, there are reasons to be cautious in all this optimism. It is true that the careful and futuristic engineering of development at PCMC by the PCNTDA has become a national and even international benchmark for town planning. However, there have been various challenges along this road to progress. We need to take these hurdles into consideration if the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation is to fulfill its maximum potential as the City of the future.

Considering the pace at which real estate development has been taking place, certain lacunae in adhering to the PCNTDA’s master plan were unavoidable. One of the most glaring examples of this was the emergence of unauthorized structures in various pockets of the PCMC.

Thankfully, this issue is being dealt with firmly. The authorities have embarked on a massive drive to deal with such structures, and we are confident that all illegal constructions will be erased from the landscape by the end of 2013. However, we cannot deny that these are damage control measures which would not have been necessary if the damage had never been allowed to occur in the first place.

More Road Connectivity

Another area of concern is lack of adequate road connectivity between certain key areas of the PCMC and areas such as Talegaon. Because of the massive potential for industrial and residential development in and around these areas, they have seen most of the road construction initiatives. In the process, road connectivity from these locations to some of the most important growth areas of PCMC has been largely ignored.

Paradoxically, the areas referred to as Phase 2 in the PCMC development plan hold the highest potential for real estate growth. Thanks to the availability of large land parcels at relatively lower prices, residential and commercial realty development has picking up rapidly in areas such as Moshi. In the meantime, Moshi has become a hotbed for property investments because of the International Convention Centre being jointly developed by the Maratha Chamber of Commerce and the PCMC.

Despite this, there is still no sufficient road connectivity between Phase 2 and the larger industrial hubs. This is going to prove to be a huge stumbling-block for the overall growth of the region. The lack of a suitable road network means that people living in areas like Moshi face difficulties in reaching their workplaces in these employment clusters. This issue must be addressed on a priority basis. A city like PCMC must do everything in its power to ensure that its growth pockets are not isolated from each other.

PCMC Needs To Expand

Yet another issue is that the population within the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation is growing at an annual rate of 73%. Such a rate of growth makes it necessary to provide more spaces for development. Unfortunately, there have been limitations put on the city’s potential for geographic expansion by Red Zones (non-development areas).

It is imperative that more of the region’s outlying villages be included in the urbanization plan. There are enough examples in India of what happens when a city does not expand geographically in tandem with its population growth. Such a situation must not be allowed to develop in the PCMC. Also, PCMC needs to be able to accommodate the rapid growth in population in terms of providing more educational institutions, shopping complexes, healthcare establishments and entertainment zones.

Encourage Green Development

Finally, I would like to touch on PCMC’s major thrust towards sustainable real estate development. It is no secret that green development is the future of real estate all over the world. In fact, many of the bigger residential townships and commercial complexes in the PCMC have already adopted the ‘green development’ mantra. The new PCNTDA building itself is a resounding statement to how important sustainable development has become to the city.

Nevertheless, there is still a noticeable lack of enthusiasm within the region about the benefits of green homes and workplaces. One of the reasons for this is lack of awareness. Many of the region’s residential property developers and buyers have not been attuned to the advantages of environmentally sustainable properties. I urge the State Government to join hands with the PCMC to bring about greater awareness and eventual adoption of this vitally important principle.

I also strongly advocate better incentives for developers and buyers of green homes in the PCMC. The use of non-conventional energy sources and sustainable waste water management does not only have a positive impact on the environment and on the overall quality of life. Such measures reduce the strain on municipal resources, resulting in significant revenue savings. Unless the benefits of these savings are passed back on to the developers and buyers of sustainable properties, we cannot expect a more wide-spread adoption of the ‘green’ mantra in PCMC.

We gratefully acknowledge the importance that the visiting dignitaries have given to the City of the Future by gracing it with their presence. At the same time, we sincerely request them to take heed of PCMC’s most urgent requirements.

Anil Pharande is Vice President of CREDAI Pune Metro and Chairman of Pharande  Spaces, a leading construction and development firm that develops township properties in the PCMC area of Pune, India.

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Affordably Priced, Will Cater to Management Cadre Homebuyers

Pune, June 27, 2012:  Pharande Spaces, the leading construction and development firm specializing in township properties in the PCMC area of Pune, is launching its premium residential project L-axis on the PCMC Spine Road, in Sector 6 of Pradhikaran. The launch date is June 28, 2012. The project is spread over 11 acres of verdant green land and will feature 2, 2.5 and 3 BHK apartments.

“Projects by Pharande Spaces have become a byword for value for money, and our mid-income housing townships in Moshi, Ravet and various locations in Pradhikaran have met with resounding success,” says Anil Pharande, Chairman – Pharande Spaces. “L-axis is our offering to the premium segment of home buyers who value even more advanced levels of comfort, generous living space and high-tech amenities.”

Spine Road, which is where this ahead-of-its time luxury housing project is located, has become one of the most talked about infrastructure embellishments in the progressive Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. This area is fundamentally at the core of Pune’s most vibrant industrial area, with many manufacturing giants such as Tata Motors, Force Motors and Bajaj Auto close by. It is also well-connected to the Chakan industrial area, which is home to national and international automobile companies like Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz and Mahindra & Mahindra. Apart from this, the Talawade IT Park is also within easy access.

In addition, L-axis is advantageously placed close to the Bhosari District Centre, Sadhu Vaswani International School, Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir, the PCNTDA Traffic Park and the upcoming International Exhibition and Convention Centre at Moshi. The project will feature technologically advanced security and lifestyle features to its residents and boasts of vast green spaces, with paved area kept at a minimum.

L-axis also includes a modern clubhouse with gymnasium, tennis and basketball courts, a multi-purpose community hall and a massive water-world-style swimming pool that offers limitless enjoyment to all family members.

“We have conceived L-axis in response to the huge demand for luxury living spaces coming from the managerial cadre of these industries,” explains Anil Pharande. “Keeping in mind the clientele, we have added every possible lifestyle feature, including multiple parking spaces, luxurious atriums and lobbies in each building and high-speed lifts.”

In fact, L-axis represents a first-of-its kind residential option for discerning homebuyers in the PCMC area for whom ease, luxury and convenience are the primary watchwords. No effort has been spared to make this a landmark development which will become its own distinctive address. The launch price for apartments at L-axis is currently Rs. 4500 per square foot, and will be augmented to Rs. 5000 per square foot thereafter.

Pharande explains that PCMC’s Spine Road is the perfect location for this project, providing a residential catchment that is a focal point of the region’s most prestigious industries. The 10-kilometer road connects two major highways and also runs through Pimpri Chinchwad’s industrial, residential and commercial areas on the eastern side.

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With the Pune Municipal Corporation Elections 2012 coming up, the usual spate of election promises by corporators to improve the infrastructure in their respective wards are being made. As positive as these promises are, they miss the larger point – Pune does not need segmented, fractional development.

Piecemeal development is exactly what has been happening all these years anyway. The haphazard development of Pune has followed the usual course of opportunistic urbanization. Certain areas receive maximum attention while others are completely neglected.

The Pune City Development Plan (DP), which now includes 23 villages around the city, was recently approved after a massive delay of six years. If properly implemented, the DP has the potential to give the benefits of proper urban development to Pune’s real estate sector, its economy and to its citizens. The city as a whole needs better, wider roads and traffic management, improved water supply and more hospitals, gardens and playgrounds and open areas.

It is not just some areas being administered to by individual corporators that need to see change – the whole city needs the changes that will make life easier for its citizens and contribute towards more rational growth. The patchwork improvements that are being promised will not help Pune to develop scientifically, rationally and beneficially. A closer look at neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad would reveal just how much can be done for a city if its policy makers adopt a unified and holistic approach to development.

While Pune continues to stagger under the pressures of infrastructure deadlock, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is already passing on the benefits of visionary urban planning to its residents. The planned development model adopted by the PCNTDA has consistently ensured that real estate growth in the entire Pimpri Chinchwad belt has taken place in a logical manner. As a result, infrastructure in the PCMC has become one of the brightest gems in Maharashtra’s urban development showcase.

The Pune Municipal Corporation Elections present the city with a good opportunity to insist on the proper and timely implementation of the Pune Development Plan. In the 23 villages which have now come under the DP, there has been little or no progress on infrastructure for more than two decades. There is an urgent need for proper roads and other physical infrastructure in these areas, many of which which have already seen a lot of irrational construction and illegal projects.

If Pune’s development Plan is properly streamlined and implemented, all old and new areas will benefit from improved road networks which will help in the decongestion of the inner city. It would be a mature election platform to promise the implementation of the DP in a timely and progress-oriented manner, rather than promising to improve only certain sections of the city.

We look forward to one visionary candidate in the upcoming Pune Municipal Elections 2012 to take up the cause of the Pune Development Plan as a whole.

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The draft Development Plan (DP) for the 23 villages to be merged into Pune’s Municipal limits has been more or less finalized. It has given emphasis to the Pune metro, and it also proposes to increase the permissible height for high rises in the established parts of the city from 100 metres to 150 metres. Vertical growth is obviously the only way to go in the areas of Pune where horizontal spread is no longer possible.

There is great potential for Pune real estate, and the Development Plan is supposed to aid its growth. However, there are some major areas of concern when it comes to its efficiency in doing so. One of the prime concerns is the process involved in formulating, finalizing and implementing the DP in the first place.

This process comes under the purview of the MRTP Act for urban growth in Maharashtra. As it stands now, it is archaic and extremely slow-moving process. To begin with, just getting it from the blue-print to approval stage involves several agencies. Only when the required approvals have been obtained from all these agencies can the Development Plan be finalized by the Chief Minister and implemented by the Pune Municipal Corporation.

This is an extremely cumbersome process, and the amount of red tape it takes to finalize and implement the Pune Development Plan is enormous. It should be remembered that the Government of Maharashtra has to handle the approval and implementation of the Development Plan in tandem with countless other proposals from all over the State. This is why this process usually takes anything between 10-15 years to be finalized and put into actual practice.

These huge delays further give rise to vastly increased costs, wasted time and negatively impact on the city’s GDP. At this critical juncture of deployment of Pune’s development Plan, it would make sense to look at more progressive models of planned urban development. The Government of Maharashtra could consider the method that has worked so well in Ahmedabad in close-by Gujarat and in the neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.

There are good reasons for considering the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation as a suitable role model for progressive urban development. Only recently, the PCMC was honoured with the ‘Best City in India’ award at the hands of the Prime Minister himself. Pune’s booming sister city simultaneously received two further national awards under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for the improvements made in its water supply and waste water management, and for effective enforcement of policies aimed at the Economically Weaker Sections.

What is this progressive model of urban development that could transform the PMC, as well? In simple terms, it involves three distinct, time-bound stages. In the first stage, the Government acquires land under roads and reservations at a stipulated rate or in the form of TDR (Transfer of Development Rights). A blueprint for complete social and civic infrastructure creation of the new zones to be developed is then drawn up. This includes roads, water and electricity supply as well as designation of areas for residential development, schools, shopping, hospitals, workplace hubs and industry.

The laying down of this infrastructure can then put on the fast track by creating a Special Purpose Vehicle for a dedicated infrastructure fund. Pune’s new Development Plan will a certain number of kilometers of road length. The total cost of road development can be calculated and the cost per square foot could then be loaded on to the residential development of these areas in the next stage. Interestingly, this cost is very minimal and can be easily borne.

With the kind of will and focus that was displayed by PCMC when it used this model, the entire road development and civic infrastructure development can be completed with three years. At this stage, the newly established and fully infrastructure-enabled areas are then opened up to developers for residential and commercial development.

The advantages of such an approach are manifold. In the first place, there is a uniform, horizontal spread of real estate. Development does not take place in pockets, but in a scientific manner. The creation of road networks and electricity and water supplies before actual real estate development ensures that property prices remain rational and equitable. There would be a very favourable effect on the affordability of homes in these new areas. All these factors together ensure that there is optimal economic growth that benefits everyone.

The Government of Maharashtra has already committed itself to fast-track growth of its cities. By adopting the above-mentioned model, this commitment can actually bring real-time results.

Anil Pharande is Vice President of CREDAI Pune Metro and Chairman of Pharande  Spaces, a leading construction and development firm that develops township properties in the PCMC area of Pune, India.

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(Times of India, Sept. 10, 2011)

PUNE: The work of widening the Aundh-Ravet Road near Aundh commenced on Friday after a gap of nearly a year. The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has begun the work as it has received written permission from the defence authorities. The road-widening work had been stalled as the defence authorities had earlier objected to the work.

Municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma said the defence authorities on Thursday granted the permission to the PCMC. He said the PCMC had earlier paid Rs 18 crore to the defence authorities for the land.

The widening work will be from the Aundh Chest Hospital up to Y junction. The work will reduce traffic congestion on the narrow road near the hospital, he added. The widening work on the 14.4-km Aundh-Ravet Road is being done for developing a BRT corridor. For early completion of the work, the road has been divided into seven sections for which contracts have been given. The work on widening the four-km stretch from Rajiv Gandhi bridge in Aundh to Sai chowk in New Sangvi could not be completed due to the delay in getting the defence land.

The narrow stretch of the road is a bottleneck and witnesses daily traffic snarls during the peak morning and evening hours and causes inconvenience to hundreds of motorists.

Dilip Kudale, coordinator, engineering department, PCMC, said, the road is being widened from 15 to 45 metres. The PCMC will complete the work in the next six months.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/PCMC-gets-defence-land-for-widening-Aundh-Road/articleshow/9930496.cms

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Nagar Road is a lot more than just a stretch of highway. In fact, it has become symbolic of industrial and commercial progress in Pune. Some of the most economically thriving areas in the city are situated along Nagar Road. Kalyani Nagar, Vadgaon Sheri, Chandan Nagar, Viman Nagar and Kharadi are the ones that come immediately to mind.

The development taking place in these has given Nagar Road an entirely different image, and the name is gaining national and even international prominence. Let us examine Nagar Road’s real estate hot-spots according to the intensity of development as well as physical and social infrastructure.

KALYANI NAGAR

Kalyani Nagar is named after Dr. Neelkanth  Kalyani – owner of various notable companies like Bharat Forge and Optronica. It has emerged one of the most prominent and established commercial real estate destinations on the Eastern Corridor of Pune. Its strategic location between Koregaon Park and Viman Nagar and its close proximity to the airport, railway station and other commercial areas like Kharadi and Hadapsar makes it an ideal destination for IT/ITES companies.

Kharadi has also emerged as one of the most upmarket residential destinations in Pune. It is home to many luxury hotels and boasts of a golf course as well as prestigious social establishments such as the Connoisseur’s Club, Ganga Retreat and the Royal Connaught Club.

The IT and ITES-BPO segment have completely reinvented Kharadi’s landscape. High grade residential options have sprung up all over. Amongst all the above-mentioned localities, Kalyani Nagar’s rate of development is by far the fastest. The Pune-Mumbai Expressway has been a major contributing factor.

The Government responded to this potential by constructing the Kalyani Nagar-Koregaon Park connecting bridge, thereby linking these two progressive and vibrant localities. The ease of transport and commuting has resulted in even higher industrial and retail activity and boosted the residential sector, as well.

VIMAN NAGAR

Named for its proximity to the Lohegaon Airport, Viman Nagar is located approximately 10 km from Pune City. It is still relatively affordable and offers excellent connectivity by virtue of regular bus routes and a much-improved road network. Since it is the first major locality one reaches from the vibrant Dhole-Patil Road, it is far from isolated in spite of the distance from the central city. It can be easily reached from the airport as well as the railway station, and this is one of its most powerful selling points. Also, with the Air Force and Army camps hemming it in from three different sides, Viman Nagar is one of the safest residential and commercial localities in Pune.

Viman Nagar owes importance on the real estate market to its proximity to Kalyani Nagar. However, it does boast of a better residential infrastructure, and is still the preferred area of residence for immigrant software professionals.

KHARADI

Situated along the Kharadi- Hadapsar Bypass, Kharadi has the unique distinction of being accessible from three focal points of commercial importance, namely Nagar Road, Sholapur Road and Mundhwa/Koregaon Park. In addition, it is bookended by the industrial zones of Sanaswadi, Ranjangaon, Hadapsar and Parner. Since it also houses a telephone exchange building, it definitely had all the makings of significant commercial and industrial presence.

Today, Kharadi has been earmarked for a lot of IT development because of its excellent road network, the MIDC-promoted Info Tech Park as well as EON SEZ and other IT Parks in the neighbouring Kalyani Nagar. Though it is now a prominent IT/ITES destination, it has yet to evolve as a significant force on the residential property market.

WAGHOLI

Wagholi has emerged as a preferred residential destination primarily due to the competitive price that the area offers compared to other residential catchments along Nagar Road, such as Kharadi, Viman Nagar and Kalyani Nagar. Apart from being affordable, Wagholi is the most convenient location for people working in the Ranjangaon and Sanaswadi industrial areas as well as in the Kharadi-Magarpatta belt. Today, Wagholi is well-connected by the completed six-lane Nagar Road – making commuting to and from this area, which was once considered an obscure outlying location, very convenient.

MUNDHWA

Another distinct beneficiary of the Kalyani Nagar-Koregaon Park bridge, Mundhwa began as an Armed Forces area and has enjoyed a disciplined approach to overall development for this reason. It is located squarely on the Nagar-Sholapur Highway. Since it is immediately adjacent to Koregaon Park, it has earned itself the rather enviable label of Koregaon Park Extension. Considering KP’s rate of development and general upper-crust aura, this is extremely significant. The area is poised for rapid development because of its close proximity to extremely successful Magarpatta township that transformed the real estate landscape of the Eastern Corridor of Pune.

VADGAON SHERI

Vadgaon Sheri has still not completely risen from obscurity, but nevertheless has the same potential as all other localities along Nagar Road. At the present time, Vadgaon Sheri awaits coming into its own as the neighbouring Kalyani Nagar and Viman Nagar eventually share their glamour and development fallout. One of the most attractive features of this area today is its cheap land rates.

RANJANGAON

This is another area of intense industrial activity along Nagar Road. It is mainly known as an MIDC entity, but is now seeing the entry of residential projects that cater to the workforce of this industrial catchment. It has also been earmarked as the venue for the new International Airport.

Despite the great potential it offers, Nagar Road itself is surprisingly under-developed as a road conduit for all the real estate goldmines along it. Connectivity remains a significant issue, and it is hard to understand why the authorities have not taken greater interest in it. Lack of planning has always been the bane of real estate development in Pune, and Nagar Road is a good – if sad – example of this fact.

Anil Pharande is President of CREDAI PCMC and Chairman of Pharande  Spaces, a leading construction and development firm that develops township properties in the PCMC area of Pune, India.

This article may be reprinted with proper attribution to the author and a link back to PunePropertyBlog.com

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(Source: TOI)

August 3, 2011

PUNE: The path has been cleared for the 24×7 water supply pilot project in Pimpri Chinchwad, to be implemented by the municipal corporation in association with a French company. The civic standing committee on Tuesday approved a proposal for a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the company.

The project will be implemented in one area of the township. Pravin Ladkat, executive engineer, water supply department, PCMC said, “The pilot project will be implemented in a zone with 3,000 to 5,000 water connections. The pilot zone is yet to be identified. The project will take nine months for completion.” He said, “The PCMC had signed a MoU with the French company Suez Environment in October 2010 to improve the water supply in the township. The project was to be implemented at a cost of Rs 6.3 crore. The proposal was sent to the state government for approval and later to the union government’s Urban Development Department.

It took almost four months to get the department’s approval.” Later, some changes were proposed in the implementation plan. The PCMC will have to spend money on purchasing equipment like leakage detectors, valves and bulk meters. As a result, a new MoU is being signed, officials said. Suman Pawale, chairperson, standing committee, said the panel also approved the short notice resolution to hold weekly bazaars during Diwali to sell goods produced by women Self Help Groups at the Bhakti Shakti chowk and Madhukar Pawale ground in Nigdi.

The committee also approved resolutions for laying water pipelines in the newly developing areas of Punawale village at a cost of Rs 1.11 crore, and laying a main pipeline from the Elevated Storage Reservoir (ESR) in the Elpro compound to improve water supply to Chinchwadgaon and nearby areas at a cost of Rs 74.66 lakh. A resolution to beautify a road divider on the Aundh-Ravet Road from Sai chowk to Dange chowk, at an expenditure of Rs 60 lakh, was also approved. Development projects with a total expenditure of Rs 7.4 crore were approved at the meeting on Tuesday.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/PCMCs-24×7-water-supply-scheme-gets-green-signal/articleshow/9462718.cms

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(Source: Daily Bhaskar)

Pune: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) launched its ‘Green Building Initiative’ on Saturday. The initiative was inaugurated by PCMC commissioner, Ashish Sharma and mayor, Yogesh Behl at the Auto Cluster, Chinchwad.

On the occasion, Behl said buildings had a major impact on the environment in terms of depletion of natural resources due to building materials, enormous energy consumption and wastage of water during and after construction and pollution of urban air. Thus emerged the need for green buildings to benefit the environment and to provide a better place for the occupants to live and work in.

Sharma said, “The PCMC has always been proactive in taking steps towards better living environments for urban dwellers. It is now the first municipal corporation to make a conscious effort towards its responsibility towards natural resources and the impact on society by incentivising green rating for integrated habitat assessment — Griha — rating system in their jurisdiction.”

The Energy & Resources Institute (Teri) developed Griha jointly with the Union ministry of new and renewable energy, which is suitable for all types of buildings. This rating system not only takes care of energy conservation, but also looks into water and waste management. Association for Development and Research of Sustainable Habitats (Adarsh) is mandated to promote development of buildings in India through Griha.

By this initiative of incentivising Griha-rated green buildings in PCMC area, there will be savings in potable water usage, waste water treatment and solid waste management.

Property owners in green buildings will be benefited by reduction in pollution related to air, noise, soil and water. There will be savings in energy consumption. The developer will get the discount in premium amount of building permission charges as per the rating awarded by Griha. There will be a discount of 10% in property tax for end-users. The developer can seek fast track environmental clearance through Griha pre-certification, added PCMC environment department officials.

http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/MAH-PUN-green-building-initiative-at-pcmc-2311533.html

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(Indian Express, July 17, 2011)

The cancellation of the DB Realty project under the Pimpri-Chinchwad New Town Development Authority (PCNTDA) means a further wait for the families who, by March next year, would have benefited from the 53-hectare project. The Basic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) PPP model that failed will involve a new tendering process, the resolution for which was initiated in PCNTDA in May. The township, proposed in February 2009, was expected to be completed by March 2012 and was supposed to generate 5,040 homes under BSUP and 2,750 homes for the Middle Income Group (MIG) and High Income Group (HIG).

Suhas Divse, chief executive officer, PCNTDA, said, “The PCNTDA project was supposed to be completed by March 2012. However, citing the delay, the central government cancelled the project and subsequently we scrapped it. An amount of Rs 50 crore which was the deposit along with the bank guarantee amount has been refunded to them. The entire process has cost us loss of low cost houses which, we would have made available to the residents at Rs 1-1.5 lakh, besides time. Now, we will have to initiate the tendering process once again and generate 8,000-10,000 houses on our own. Further, it will take another three years for the township to be ready.”

On Friday, DB Realty Ltd had said that its proposed Rs 400-crore township project in Pune had been cancelled by the PCNTDA, without giving a reason as to why the local body canceled the project. “PCNTDA has refunded the upfront deposit money of Rs 50 crore to the company which will take legal recourse in the matter, terming the cancellation of letter of intent after 22 months as arbitrary and illegal,” DB Realty had told the stock exchanges on Friday.

Dilip Band, Pune divisional commissioner and president, PCNTDA had however said, “The project was cancelled because PCNTDA could not take the allotted money from the central government. The project did not go ahead because of litigation and complaints filed by the local MP and some politicians regarding the tendering process and the manner in which the allotment was done. As there were complaints, no work order was issued to DB Realty’s JV. The project could not be completed in the stipulated time of two years and so the centre cancelled the project.”

The central government had given grants of Rs 150 crore under JNNURM for the project that was to come up in Sector 12 under the category of BSUP.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pcntda-to-generate-houses-on-its-own/818630/0

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(DNA, July 6, 2011)

Pune: The Maharashtra government has decided to use the Pimpri-Chinchwad New Township Development Authority’s (PCNTDA) ‘Shashwat’ programme to digitise all land records in government offices across the state. This will automatically help put an end to land scams and ensure transparency in government records.

The PCNTDA recently launched its touch screen facility to give information about lease deeds, allotment letters and other land records. The authority started the facility under its ‘Shashwat’ programme to digitise all records since its formation in 1972.

PCNTDA chief executive officer Suhas Diwase made a presentation of the ‘Shashwat’ project during his meeting in Pune last week with chief minister (CM) Prithviraj Chavan. The CM was impressed by the system and expressed his desire to start the project at the state level in all municipal corporations as well as government offices to stop corruption and give easy access to general public.

The CM also asked the authority to submit the detailed procedure manual of the project. Speaking to DNA, Diwase said, “As per the CM’s guideline, we are preparing the procedure manual and will submit it to the government soon.”

Diwase added that Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations, district courts, Pune commissioner’s office and district collector have also approached the authority to provide guidance on introducing the project to digitise land records.

Elaborating on the project, he said, “The touch screen facility has been receiving good public response since it started in May. It has also reduced the number of applications under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI).”

Under the project, 50 lakh documents — mainly land records — have been scanned. To check land records, the citizens have to meet various officials and employees, which is not only time consuming but also affects work at the office. All land records and official information are now made available through touch screen facility at the office.

The user-friendly facility does not require the assistance of any PCNTDA employee. Diwase said he joined the authority in 2008 and, after barely a month, undertook the project. “Very soon, citizens will get prints of any land record in the office itself,” he said.

The project has helped usher transparency in the PCNTDA office in Nigdi. Gone are the heaps of files in a shabby state and in their place is a pleasant office with a corporate touch.

http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/MAH-PUN-impressed-cm-may-follow-pcntda-way-to-plug-land-scams-2238881.html

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