New Chakan airport gets Rs200 crore nod

The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has sanctioned Rs200 crore for the proposed Chakan international airport, which will come up on a new 700-hectare site, adjacent to the previous one.

A 18-km metro railway corridor has also been proposed linking the airport to the international exhibition and convention centre in Moshi, said divisional commissioner, Dilip Band, on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference at the Pimpri Chinchwad New Township Development Authority (PCNTDA) office in Nigdi, he said, “The old site was scrapped due to farmers’ opposition, but there are no such hurdles at the new site. The project would require rehabilitation of only 80 households. The government will definitely offer more compensation to these families, as the project is extremely important for Pune,” he said.

With the development of the airport and the exhibition centre, the area will emerge as a major hub in the city.

There are 10,000 parking spaces available at the Moshi exhibition centre. Passengers can park their vehicles at the centre and can take the metro to the airport, Band said.

He added that the cost of the metro link would be borne by the PCNTDA and the Airports Authority of India. The PCNTDA will set up a special purpose vehicle for this venture.

PCNTDA approves 140 crore for the construction of the Pune International Exhibition and Convention Centre at Moshi

The Pimpri-Chinchwad New Township Development Authority (PCNTDA) has made a provision of Rs 140 crore for the construction of the Pune International Exhibition and Convention Centre at Moshi in its Rs 607.18 crore draft budget for 2011-12 which shows a surplus of Rs 205.77 crore.

Suhas Divse, chief executive officer (CEO), PCNTDA presented the draft budget to divisional commissioner Dilip Band, president of the PCNTDA and the PCNTDA committee on Monday. The draft budget has a provision of Rs 401.41 crore for expenditure.

The draft budget was approved after discussions.

The convention centre will be built on a 240-acre plot of land in sector 5 and 8 in Moshi. A SPV has been created for the project called PIECCL in which PCNTDA has 94 percent share.

Around Rs 400 crore will be spent on first phase of the construction. Divse said, "Bids will be invited for the exhibition and convention centre in two months."

The budget has a carry forward of Rs 342.85 crore from 2010-11. There is a provision of Rs 61.23 crore for revenue expenditure and Rs 340.17 crore for capital expenditure. A provision of Rs 118 crore has been made for various developmental projects and Rs 22.56 crore for administrative expenditure.

PCNTDA has made provision of Rs 6.70 crore for constructing a subway to connect sectors 28 to 29 near Akurdi railway station, Rs 25.50 crore for a flyover near Mercedes Benz plant in Chikhli, Rs 5.20 crore for a flyover at Kudalwadi and Rs 10.50 crore for a flyover at Kalewadi chowk on Aundh-Ravet road.

PCNTDA has made a provision of Rs 5 crore for constructing affordable houses for the low and middle- income groups at Sector 30.

"This project will be implemented on a 7.5 acre plot and PCNTDA plans to construct around 450 to 500 houses. We expect to start the construction of the project after three months," Divse said.

PCNTDA has made a provision of Rs 1.10 crore for fencing around the acquired land to prevent encroachments, Divse said. Provision has been made for putting up direction boards in the PCNTDA limits.

Pimpri-Chinchwad —a Metropolis in the Making

Pimpri- Chinchwad has rapidly shaken off its image of being a predominantly industrial township, a mere adjunct to Pune, and now bids fair to becoming recognized as a fully developed city in its own right.
The metamorphosis has not been easy. Several decades of apathy, a laissez-faire attitude and inertia to change had to be overcome. And overcome, it did, thanks to several efficient town planners and administrators at both, the Pimpri-Chinchwad New Township Authority (PCNTDA) and the Pimpri- Chinchwad  Municipal Corporation ( PCMC ), backed to the hilt by the Government of Maharashtra.
Swept aside have been the narrow, potholed roads choked with smoke belching trucks and buses, shanty towns, open drains and malodorous swamps, breeding grounds for a host of diseases that are typical of most industrial townships. They have been replaced by broad, multi-lane paved roads, impressive flyovers, well maintained public parks, ample potable water storage and supply network and an effective drainage system.
If one were to compare Pimpri-Chinchwad with Pune, some of the statistics are quite astonishing. Pimpri-Chinchwad, with an area of 178 sq. km. has 630 km of roads, over 100 public gardens and only 69 designated slums, as compared to Pune which, in an  area of 244 sq.km. has 650 km of roads, 79 public gardens and 560 slums!
The results of the impressive infrastructure development speak for themselves. Where there were only a handful of large Indian manufacturing companies like Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Finolex, Garware and a few British, Swedish and German multi-nationals, there is now a proliferation of globally renowned IT companies,  and several   leading Indian Engineering and consumer durable manufacturing  companies… if one were to consider Chakan, which, though it lies outside the ambit of PCMC  is accessible through and is largely serviced by PCMC, then one would add the names of some of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers!
Scores of well designed housing complexes, offering a wide range of housing options  from modest single bedroom flats to palatial bungalows dot the skyline from Baner to Chikhali; PCMC is home to several fine campuses offering graduate and post-graduate education in virtually every discipline; not to be left behind are banks and financial institutions and high end health care units, as well as retail and entertainment malls.
The planned 240 acre International Exhibition & Convention Centre along the Pune-Nashik Highway is perhaps the finest signpost to this transformation of Pimpri-Chinchwad— truly a Metropolis in the Making.