http://www.ccbarch.com/images/C.Benninger-picture.jpg

Bio from their site..

Born in America in 1942, Christopher Charles Benninger has lived and worked in India for the past thirty-three years, leading some to label this as a "self imposed exile." He studied City Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Architecture at Harvard University under Joseph Luis Sert, where he was later a Professor of Architecture. A Fulbright Fellowship brought him to Ahmedabad, India in 1968, and he returned as a Ford Foundation Advisor to found the School of Urban Planning there in 1971. Benninger often quotes Gandhiji's directive,"Live in a village and plan for the world." He founded the Centre for Development Studies in Pune, India (1976) involving him in rural development and poverty alleviation work. He has prepared plans for the Governments of Bhutan, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India. He has designed institutions, residential schools, business and luxury hotels, corporate headquarters and large scale housing projects.

Benninger was selected for the Designer of the Year Award (1999), and for the American Institute of Architects Award (2000) for his design of the Mahindra United World College of India. He maintains studios in Pune, India and in Thimphu, Bhutan, where he prepared the new capital plan, and is presently designing the capital complex. He has advised the World Bank, UNO and Asian Development Bank on development projects in Asia and Africa. He is a distinguished architect, planner, institution builder and writer. His works have been published widely in international and national books and magazines. He is a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Architects and of the Institute of Town Planners, India. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the International Society for City and Regional Planning, the World Society for Ekistics and the American Planning Association. He is registered with the Council of Architects.

Projects..

Center for Development Studies and Activities, Pune

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/03b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/04b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/05b.jpg

The Buddhist Center

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/08b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/11b.jpg

Mahindra World College, Pune

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/12b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/13b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/17b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/18b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/20b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/22b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/24b.jpg

Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi/B]

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/28b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/27b.jpg

[B]Cochin Refineries Limited

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/30b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/31b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/33b.jpg

Central Inn Pune

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/37b.jpg

Tian Square, Pune

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/38b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/41b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/39b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/40b.jpg

Centre for Neurological Disorders and Complimentary Medicine, Pune (u/c)

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/42b.jpg

http://www.ccbarch.com/images/43b.jpg

I am deeply impressed and humbled. Some individuals show exemplary commitment to the causes they hold dear, and I would say quite a few architects in India would fit this description!

On another note, quite a few immigrant architects, have made India their home. Laurie Baker, Stein of Doshi Stein partnership, Architects of Auroville - who actually have designed a number of local eco-friendly projects in India, and this gent from Pune.....

Sun, or Drwho, can you please rename this to the Pune Projects thread, so the thread in the City Folder forum can be limited to just photographs?

I'll cross post those project posts here.



International Biotech Park, Pune

Development of 100 acres of Biotechnology Park in association with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. The Park shall feature a variety of development models for market driven development including a core-shared facility and built-to-suit units.

http://www.tcgdevelopments.com/gifs/international-biotech-park-blow.jpg

Projects posted by Sun:
Mont Vert Finesse, Baner Pashan Link Road, Pashan

http://www.montverthomes.com/Images/finesseFrontalView20P.jpg

Mont Vert Céleste, Ramnagar, Bavdhan

http://www.montverthomes.com/Images/celestebig.jpg

Mont Vert Dieu, Pashan-Sus Road

http://www.montverthomes.com/Images/dieuFrontalView499W.jpg

Mont Vert Pristine, Off Aundh Road, Aundh

http://www.montverthomes.com/Images/pristineFrontalView400W.jpg

Kumar Pacific, Shankershet Road

http://www.kumarworld.com/Photos/GeneralInformation/image_126.gif

Kumar Karishma, off. Karve Road

http://www.kumarworld.com/Photos/GeneralInformation/image_75.gif

Kumar Paradise

http://www.kumarworld.com/Photos/GeneralInformation/image_123.gif

Rohan Asman

http://www.rohanbuilders.com/images/aasman-per1.jpg

10 Kasturkunj

http://www.rohanbuilders.com/images/k-per3.jpg

Rohan Vasantha

http://www.rohanbuilders.com/images/v-per1.jpg

Konark Puram

http://www.kariabuilders.com/Y-building.gif

Konark Indrayu

http://www.kariabuilders.com/image-new-01%20indrayu.gif

Silver Leaf

http://www.paranjapeschemes.com/silverl/images/silver.jpg

West End River View

http://www.westendriverview.com/images/view4.gif

PT Gera Centre

http://www.geraproperties.com/ptgeracentre/images/day4.jpg

http://www.geraproperties.com/ptgeracentre/images/day2.jpg

Ganga Satellite

http://www.goelganga.com/images/pro_gangasatellite/move1.jpghttp://www.goelganga.com/images/pro_gangasatellite/move2.jpg

Siddharth Ganga Tower

http://www.goelganga.com/images/pro_sgt/mov1.jpg

http://www.goelganga.com/images/pro_sgt/mov2.jpg

Sneh Ganga

http://www.goelganga.com/images/pro_snehganga/move1.jpg

Ganga Preet

http://www.goelganga.com/images/pro_gangapreet/preet_img1.jpg

Shaan Ganga

http://www.goelganga.com/images/pro_shaanganga/shaangangaphoto.jpg

Parmar Park Phase II

http://www.parmarproperties.com/images/parmarpark_phase11atwanowrie.jpg

ICC Trade Towers

http://www.iccpune.org/media/tradetower.jpg

ICC Tech Park

http://iccpune.org/images/icc_techpark.jpg

S L Kirolaskar Convention Centre

http://iccpune.org/images/sl_convention.jpg

Family Entertainment Centre

http://www.iccpune.org/images/fe_c.jpg

Giga Space

http://www.koltepatilbuilders.com/gigaspace/gigaspace_entrancegate.jpg

http://www.koltepatilbuilders.com/gigaspace/softwarepark.jpg

Marisoft III (nearing completion/completed)

http://www.manishaconstructions.com/images/softwarepark_kalyaninagar.jpg



Projects posted by Kshatriya
Tech parks u/c

Kalyani Nagar

http://www.panchshil.com/Commercial/Kalyani%20nagar/Elevations/images/Elevation1.jpg

Viman Nagar

http://www.panchshil.com/Commercial/Viman%20Nagar/Elevation/images/Elevation1.jpg

Airport Road

http://www.panchshil.com/Commercial/Airport%20Road/Elevation/images/Elevation1.jpg

KPIT

http://www.yssaneassociates.com/YSSAGallery/images/15Kpitview_jpg.jpg

Developer/Owner : KPIT Infosystems Ltd.
Architect : Venkatraman Associates
Use : Commercial-Software Development
Address : Hinjawadi, Pune
Area : 14,000 m 2
Work Period : 2004-(Under Construction)



I-NOX

http://www.yssaneassociates.com/YSSAGallery/images/08Inox_jpg.jpg

Developer/Owner : I-NOX
Architect : TK Architects, UK
Use : Multiplex Cinema and Shopping Mall
Address : Pune
Area : 10,000 m 2
Work Period : 2001-2002

More projects posted by Sun
Runwal Uinverse (Office building)

http://www.runwalgroup.com/runwal_universe/commercialcomplex.jpg

Runwal Diamond (Shopping centre)

http://www.runwalgroup.com/runwal_diamond/runwaldiamond_nibm.jpg

Runwal Gold (Mall)

http://www.runwalgroup.com/runwal_gold/runwalgold_solapur_road.jpg

Nucleus [upcoming]

http://www.indussestate.com/imgs/nubig.jpg

Zircon [Vascon Engineers]

http://img181.exs.cx/img181/7492/zirconpunevascon1um.jpg

Ozone IT Park from Shapoorji

http://www.ozoneindia.net/images/features_masterplan01_thumb.jpg

http://www.ozoneindia.net/images/features_it_views_thumb01.jpg

http://www.ozoneindia.net/images/features_it_views_thumb02.jpg

http://www.ozoneindia.net/images/features_it_views_thumb03.jpg

http://www.ozoneindia.net/images/features_it_views_thumb04.jpg

http://www.ozoneindia.net/images/features_it_views_thumb05.jpg

http://www.ozoneindia.net/images/features_it_views_thumb06.jpg

More projects

Model of Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital at Pune
http://www.lntecc.com/gallery/images/14/big8.jpg

thats some real good work.. im sure it'd be an all-together different experience studying in the kind of environment and facilities as seen at Mahindra world College..

Some of the more interesting projects from Kumar Properties...

Kumar Connaught Place
http://www.kumarworld.com/Photos%5CGeneralInformation%5Cimage_104.gif

Kumar Vaastu
http://www.kumarworld.com/Photos%5CGeneralInformation%5Cimage_106.gif

Kumar Parisar
http://www.kumarworld.com/Photos%5CGeneralInformation%5Cimage_108.gif

Kumar Planet IT
http://www.kumarworld.com/Photos%5CGeneralInformation%5Cimage_121.gif

Kumar Karishma
http://www.kumarworld.com/Photos%5CGeneralInformation%5Cimage_75.gif

Kumar Platinum
http://www.kumarworld.com/Photos%5CGeneralInformation%5Cimage_86.gif

A couple more...

Aftek Infosys (by Architect Niteen Parulaker)
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/5754/17le.jpg

Udhe India, Vikhroli (by Architect Niteen Parulaker)
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2210/17iv.jpg

Another project u/c from the architect in the 1st post of this thread, Charles Benniger, the Amby Valley Residential School for Sahara India

Academic building of the Sahara Amby Valley School
http://www.ccbarch.com/images/48b.jpg

Perspective of the Montessori school building
http://www.ccbarch.com/images/50b.jpg

Knowledge center and library of the school
http://www.ccbarch.com/images/49b.jpg

The administrative building.
http://www.ccbarch.com/images/51b.jpg

Devi Sacred World, Pune
http://www.devigroup.com/sacred_world/images/sacred_img.jpg


Devi Empress Courtm, Pune
http://www.devigroup.com/empress_court/images/empress_img.jpg


[Devi Orchid, Pune
http://www.devigroup.com/devi_orchid/images/orchid_img.jpg

Atul Bella Vista Empress, Pune
http://www.atulbuilders.com/images/BVEmpBig.jpg

__________________________________________

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/bsa_complex/bsa.jpg
Deccan Gymkhana
J.M.Road, Pune
Architect:
Developer: Kumar Builders
Status: Supposedly completed?

__________________________________________

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/com_kk_market/com_img_kk.jpg
K.K. Market
Pune-Satara Road, Pune
Architect:
Developer: Kumar Builders
Status: Under Construction

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/com_kk_market/kkmarket.jpg

__________________________________________

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/business_court/business%20Court.gif
Business Court
Narli Baug, Mukund Nagar, Pune
Architect:
Developer: Kumar Builders
Status: Under Construction

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/business_court/business_crt.jpg
__________________________________________

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/com_kbc/com_img_kbc.jpg
Kumar Business Court
Architect:
Developer: Kumar Builders
Status: Under Construction

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/com_kbc/kbcourt.jpg
__________________________________________

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/kumar_kruti/kruti_elevation.jpg
Kumar Kruti
Architect:
Developer: Kumar Builders
Status: Under Construction

_________________________________________

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/hillscape/hillscape.jpg
Baner Pashan Link Road, Pune

Architect:
Developer: Kumar Builders
Status: Under Construction

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/hillscape/const1.jpg

__________________________________________

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/luxmivilas/img_laxmivilas.jpg
Laxmi Vilas

Architect:
Developer: Kumar Builders
Status: Under Construction

__________________________________________

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/resi_buena_vista/img_buena_vista.jpg
Buena Vista
Baner Pashan Link Road, Pune
Architect:
Developer: Kumar Builders
Status: Under Construction

http://www.kumarbuilders.com/resi_buena_vista/const.jpg
__________________________________________

the deccan gymkhana building was completed long time ago. itso n JM road.. and must be a decade old. or maybe older

http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/1328/312pn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1243/d2nv.gif (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/4118/363cq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/1006/216ip.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/9887/231wm.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/9717/12nx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/8143/124qp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
solar panels
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/4291/347mg.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Bungalow
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/452/90aa.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/707/80fl.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/1998/28ma.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/9761/41rs.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/8576/30qo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/5763/52nd.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/9499/62ra.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Garden
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/2151/286uf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/6238/273te.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/2527/262be.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/5632/241st.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/8780/222qc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/2704/197so.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/544/188ce.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/3631/146al.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/7092/114yq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/7153/72dt.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
magarpatta entrance & bus.
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/9831/200dx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/2691/107xt.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/2118/336ld.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Roads
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/4812/254ic.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/3360/139fi.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/4520/350xd.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Commercial centre
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/6899/158wj.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/4315/160lr.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Independence day
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/3764/173ri.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Cybercity towers
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/6922/291do.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/497/308sv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1483/a2jk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7340/b4ze.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3106/c7qo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Cafe
http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/1168/322og.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

nice photos cncity. :)

The place looks cool. There are a lot of such townships in Pune right?

Yes there are a lot of townships in Pune. but most of them till now were smaller in size. Magarpatta is the 1st big township built in the city.. very close to the heart of the city. The townships coming are however bigger in size. more than 100 acres.. some r by big firms in Pune. like. Orchid, Kumar builders,clover. kunal,rahul constructions..All these townships are very modern,plush with banking, health care, shopping and recreation within the complex,health-oriented activities such as yoga and meditation centres, jogging/cycling tracks, hospitals and schools.

some statistics of Magarpatta city.

.400 acre township
.Cybercity. IT towers sprawling over 4 million sq.ft. 20 towers.
.32,000 trees, 20-lakh sq ft of lawns and 25-acre central garden and over 120 acres of pollution-free surroundings
.200 bed -multi-speciality hospital
.School
. Magarpatta buses to travel
.Mega commercial center - 5.25 lac sq.ft
.Coming up - On the anvil is a planetarium, indoor and outdoor sports complexes, food courts, restaurants and a wonder golf course and an amphitheatre. Aqua Sports Centre, Swimming Pool, Tennis Academy and Sports Stadium, Corporate Club with conferencing facilities

Interesting... its like a little bit of surburbia in the middle of the city

Looks like a well maintained township, better than Gurgaon.

Looks like a well maintained township, better than Gurgaon.

heh.. gurgaons not quite the comparison for a "well maintained township".
the place is in an awful mess rite now, hope things will change soon.

Gurgaon is not a township. its like a new city and a lott bigger which surely needs planning.. while magarpatta is a township-city, which was built from scratch using lands of quite a few number of numbers, who wanted a better return on their land-investment as farming had become a little tougher in the city with hard climate conditions in the last decade.

cncity> thats some nice pics,looks well structured:)



note:this thread will be merged with Pune-thread next week

cncity.................awesome. Its amazing Pune is coming up so nicely.

cncity.................awesome. Its amazing Pune is coming up so nicely.

Pune's always been an amazing city..unfortunately its 1 of the only cities among the top 8 which doesnt have enuff pics on the net. so very few ppl know about it..ive lived in Pune for only 2 yrs.. and i fell in love with the city..its very cosmopolitan, very young and developed on par with other cities in india..even some roads inthe city r concrete like in mumbai and has 1 of the best nightlife in the country along with mumbai,delhi and bangalore...which i liked being a student..hopefully ther wil be more pics coming up for the city..

Pune: A state-of-the-art flower auction centre in the city that promises to be a miniature of the world’s most prominent flower auction market of Aalsmeer in the Netherlands is on the way.
It sounds ambitious, but the state marketing department is focused on the Rs 35-crore project, which is coming up on a three-acre land behind the existing fruits and vegetable market at Gultekdi.
It will establish Pune as a hub for distribution and pricing of a range of traditional and international-grade flowers, marketing minister Harshavardhan Patil told TOI on Thursday.
‘Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer’ is a prominent central market place for the buying and selling of floricultural products with a balanced range of marketing channel, good facilities for growers and buyers and effective logistics.
An average of 20 million flowers and plants change hands each day at Aalsmeer (daily turnover 6 million euros), with close to 7,000 specialist growers worldwide as suppliers and 1,100 wholesalers and exporters buying the products.
Within a couple of hours the auctioned flowers are exported to almost every country in the world. The Aalsmeer auction building finds a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest commercial building in the world.
Patil said that the existing flower market at Gultekdi (annual turnover Rs 15 crore) primarily caters to domestic centres. “The potential for floricultural products trade from Pune is not fully exploited,” he said.
“There are almost 800 green-houses in and around the city, which can be a nodal centre for flower growers from the Nashik and Kolhapur belts, as also from neighbouring Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.”
The facility will have features like an auction hall with electronic display systems; basement parking with loading and unloading platforms; cold-storage, a convention centre and a multi-commodity exchange centre facilitating futures trading.



http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/1448/getimage0ye.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/5984/14di.jpg

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/3365/20iu.jpg

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/3080/38ov.jpg

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/7766/45yi.jpg

Palace Orchard, Pune .. (residential )...all real pics.

http://img477.imageshack.us/img477/3269/13jh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img477.imageshack.us/img477/7717/29un.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img477.imageshack.us/img477/4891/36un.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/1116/43hd.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img477.imageshack.us/img477/8605/55bq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/5984/14di.jpg

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/3365/20iu.jpg

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/7766/45yi.jpg

These three are nice looking projects. Elegant, I can almost say!

http://in.news.yahoo.com/051104/48/60vvw.html

Pawar: Don’t let Pune become a Bangalore

Maratha strongman and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday gave a stern warning to the civic administration: ‘‘When it comes to development, keep aside differences.’’

Pawar drove home the point by citing the example of the tiff between JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda and Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy. ‘‘In Bangalore, Murthy had to resign from a development committee. The city lacks basic infrastructure and the people are suffering due to it. This should not happen in Pune,’’ he said.

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Pune: Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) will be coming up with its own information technology and engineering campus in Pune in 2006. Later, in 2007, the company plans to set up a manufacturing centre in Talegaon.
“By next year, L&T we will have its own campus in Pune. The campus will be set up on the outskirts of the city along the Mumbai-Pune highway,” said A.M. Naik, chairman and managing director, L&T.
He was addressing the media on the sidelines of the inaugural function of the 47th national convention of the Indian Institution of Industrial Engineering (IIIE) in Pune, on Friday.
During the function, Naik was received the IIIEs ‘outstanding chief executive of the year award’ for the year 2004-05 from Union minister for state Prithviraj Chavan.
“Our commitment to Pune is that we will employ around 3,000 people in the IT and engineering services over the next four years,” said Naik.
As for the manufacturing centre in Talegaon, he said, “It will be operational by 2007 and initially around 300-400 people would be employed.”
He, however, did not divulge what would be produced at the facility. Around six products are under consideration, he said.
With the aim to increase the employee retention level in L&T, the company has introduced skill-based remuneration and flexi-options for its employees, whereby after three years in any unit, they can ask for a transfer across any of the 60-odd businesses that the company is into.
It is also shortly introducing the ‘global management leadership programme’ to identify people who best understand a particular international market to fill its international positions.

Kakade Magnum Mall, Pune
http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/7605/17vl1.jpg

Kolte Patil's Patil Plaza, Mitramandal
http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/3802/patilplazaelevation2vo.jpg

Kolte Patil's eSpace
http://img447.imageshack.us/img447/8342/espacearialview1uw.jpg

From India-based Christopher Charles Benniger Architects,
Luxury Business Hotel, Pune
Commissioned by 'India’s leading hotelier'
http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/6686/lbh017rr.jpg

http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/4214/lbh030ka.jpg

http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/629/lbh045fr.jpg

^^^
that hotel looks cool.

Cool stuff Jai!

That hotel looks really kool..and sure would look better wid all the greenary around...

Konark Indrayu - site photos

http://www.kariabuilders.com/karia/html/konark_indrayu.asp

1
http://img328.imageshack.us/img328/6787/konarkindrayu30gf.jpg

2
http://img328.imageshack.us/img328/9566/konarkindrayu48uy.jpg

3
http://img328.imageshack.us/img328/4007/konarkindrayu68ee.jpg

Linear Serviced Apts

http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/4628/linearserviceapts4ce.jpg

Panchshil Software Park Kharadi

http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/3606/panchshilsoftwarekharadi6nw.jpg

More info at http://www.panchshil.com/

Linear Serviced Apts

http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/4628/linearserviceapts4ce.jpg
That's a very unique design as residential buildings go. It looks more like an office building


BTW, does anyone else find 'panchshil' a very funny name for a builder considering the history of the panchsheel treaty with China :sleepy:

Panchshil Eco Business Park, Hadapsar
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/3826/view4jw.jpg

http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/3606/panchshilsoftwarekharadi6nw.jpg

More info at http://www.panchshil.com/
Some more views from from architect Niteen Parulekar's site

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http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/3526/image45ww.jpg

Some Pune projects by Architect Niteen Parulekar:
K Raheja developer project, Kalyani Nagar, Pune
http://img506.imageshack.us/img506/2218/014tm.jpg


John Deere, Magarpatta City, Pune
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/4420/017ko.jpg


SAS Software Campus, Pune
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/4605/012ig.jpg

http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/65/020fn.jpg

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2005 02:09:52 AM]
NRI Special Offer!
PUNE: The first-mover advantage has triggered competition among developers who are constructing malls across Pune city. The Sanjay Kakade Group alone is developing five malls — offering 1.5m square feet of retail space — of the fifteen upcoming ones in the city. Half a million square feet of the total space has already been leased out by the Kakade group.

Retail chains Pyramid and Westside have taken on lease over 50% of the space in Kakade Magnum Mall — the group’s first mall in the Camp area to become operational before March ’06. Madura Garments, Arvind Brands, Adidas, Nike, Citi Walk Shoes and a couple of international brands in gems and jewellery will also set up shop in this mall.

The city has very few large malls now — Pune Central and Nucleas among the more prominent ones.Another fifteen malls — with space ranging between 1,50,000 and 6,00,000 sq ft — are in various stages of construction. Of the nearly 5m sq ft of upcoming mall space in the city, over 2m has been booked by international brands. Over 60% of the space has been booked by retail giants such as Pantaloon, Life Style, Shoppers Stop, Big Bazaar and Hyper City.

Globus and Loft will set up their first outlets at the Connaught Place Mall, developed by Kumar Properties. The mall will open to the public by June ’06.Pune has been on the retail radar over the past two to three years, thanks to the IT boom and growing student population.

National and international brands, including Pantaloon, Shoppers Stop, Van Heusen, Zodiac, MontBlanc, Hidesign and Ritu Kumar’s Welspun, have already opened their showrooms. Some of them are blocking more space, sensing growing business opportunities. Developers are charging around Rs 100 to Rs 125 per sq ft as rentals.

“To stay ahead of competition, a few of the upcoming malls are incorporating hotels or a theme with the mall design. The idea is to attract greater footfalls, though it is a replica of what is fairly common in cities like Mumbai and Delhi,” said Irfan Duberia, head, agency services of Trammell Crow Meghraj.

Business to business malls too have emerged as a new concept in Pune, bringing together several buyers under one roof. Ishanya Mall ( 500,000 sq ft.) — the design centre developed by Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation — is being projected as a one-stop mall for interiors and exteriors, and will target real estate projects of the western region, according to Mr Duberia.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1315387.cms

Google earth now has hi-res images of Pune. yay!

Construction equipment major — JCB India, announced setting up of a new $50 million plant at Pune. The 250,000 sq ft plant, dedicated to manufacture excavators for the Indian market will be adjacent to JCB’s fabrication factory at Pune.

Speaking to Deccan Herald , Managing Director & CEO Onkar Singh Sunar said: “the market for excavators is poised to grow, and our eight, 13 and 20 tonne excavators will be ready for production by June 2006.

The first machine to go into production next year will be the latest JS200 excavator which we have just launched at Excon 2005.”


Market size

He refused to divulge the production capacity while observed they were equipped to supply excavators even if demand triples.

The market size for construction equipment is currently 13,500 machines and JCB India sales is expected to exceed 7,000 machines this year. According to Mr Singh, the market for construction equipment started growing only after 1998-99 and is expected to grow at 15 per cent in the next five years.

JCB’s fastest growing market is West Bengal and the North East. The volume of exports is currently not very high as the general perception is that quality of equipment manufactured in India is poor. But this will soon be reversed, he noted.

Earlier this year, JCB acquired compaction equipment manufacturer Vibromax — already a well known supplier in India.

Bosch to leverage city’s industrial strength

Express News Service

Pune, January 1: Pune’s manufacturing hub got another boost with Bosch Power Tools opening a one-stop-shop at the twin industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad. Bosch’s intentions on opening its tools shop in the city were clear when its country sales director Navin Paul termed Pune as the ‘industrial capital’ of India. And looking at its industrial prospects, Bosch thought it prudent to concentrate its strength in the city.

‘‘It is our resolve to make Pune a role model for correct applications of tools,’’ Paul said. He said the power tools industry is worth Rs 300 crore and Bosch’s share is around 36 per cent. ‘‘By the end of 2006, we aim to capture 40 per cent of the market share. This effort will be further augmented by the recently concluded tie-ups with banks like Canara Bank and Andhra Bank. Both banks will now extend loans to needy artisans, making power tools affordable,’’ he said.



Stating that Bosch Power Tools offers innovative and robust technology giving the desired precision, speed and reducing wastage resulting in increased profits, Paul said Bosch tools could be used where normal single phase electric power is available and can even be powered by a portable genset. ‘‘In case power is not available or where there are power cuts, battery cordless tools can be used.’’

Paul also said that if any tool was found to be defective, Bosch offered compensation within flat five days. Bosch, which has 320 dealers countrywide and 18 warehouses, aims to double up its business in next three years. ‘‘Soon we would be expanding our business in Saarc countries,’’ Paul said.

He said Bosch covered all segments including construction, metal and wood. Some of the Bosch Power Tools include hammer drills, heavy duty angles, circular saws, marble cutter and cord drills.

As for the Pimpri shoppe, Paul said: ‘‘With the launch of the shoppe, it has now forayed into do-it-yourself segment as well.’’ He said Bosch’s vision has always been to reach out to every segment with tools and accessories that are readily available to its customers.

‘‘The shoppe aims at providing different applications, a range of tools, demonstration, after sales service and even loan facility,’’ he added.

City to make a splash with aqua sports centre (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1356150.cms)

Decks have finally been cleared for an international standard Rs 19-crore aqua sports centre at the municipal plot — popularly known as Swargate water works — opposite the Nehru stadium.

Accordingly, the civic administration on Monday released an advertisement inviting bids for constructing 210-metre-long and 24-metrewide kayaking pool at an estimated cost of Rs 7 crore.

"In the second phase, we plan to construct three swimming pools," Madhav Latkar, PMC's development engineer (civil projects), told TOI.

The PMC's architects, Shahi Prabhu and Associates, have already prepared the master plan of the two-phase project, which will be a major tourist attraction in Pune.

Ishanya Mall, Pune - walk through

http://www.ishanya.com/what_is_ishanya/ishanya_walkthrough.htm


Ishanya Mall is a 600,000 sq ft masterpiece of an architecture, with an estimated project cost of Rs 65 crore and is scheduled to open in March- April, 2006.It is not just another jazzy building. On the contrary, it is designed to be an important institution serving twin purposes - one, to bring different professionals of the construction industry onto a single platform for a meaningful, inter-disciplinary interaction and two, to be a one-stop shop, showcasing the entire gamut of the building and interiors industry. Making exquisite use of glass, aluminium, vitrified tiles, inspiring colours and stones of exotic Indian varieties, Ishanya promises to be a veritable feast to the eyes of both architects and laymen...


website : http://www.ishanya.com/

Pune

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/7892/pune7ja.th.jpg (http://img57.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pune7ja.jpg)

[img=http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/7892/pune7ja.jpg] (http://imageshack.us)

http://iccpune.org/images/icc_techpark.jpg

I think that pic is of the IT - Towers at the International convention centre in Pune.

The ICC is still under construction and is scheduled to open soon. It is the biggest state-of-art convention centre in india spread at 2.2 million sq ft.

www.iccpune.org

After getting India's biggest Convention centre, the International Convention Centre ( ICC) (2.2 million sq ft)..Pune could be home to South east asia's largst exhibition centre in the future. twice the size or Pragati maidan, Dehi which is currently the biggest in India

Pune exhibition centre

By Padmaja Shastri/TNN

Pune: Pune is on its way to be home to the largest permanent exhibition centre in South East Asia. The project has started moving after being ‘in the talks’ stage for nearly a decade.
Global consultancy Price-WaterhouseCoopers was roped in by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) three months ago to conduct the feasibility report for the proposed exhibition centre.
Likely to be located on 175 hectares land at Moshi, Bhosari (behind the Daimler Chrysler facility), the ‘International Exhibition Centre’ would be more than twice the present size of Pragati Maidan, the largest exhibition centre in the country in Delhi.
“The first presentation of the preliminary feasibility report of the centre was made to the state government two weeks ago,” said MCCI president Ravi Pandit. The state goverment will have to decide on the structure and mechanism of the project, he said, adding that the necessary permissions are expected within four to six months time.
Once the report is finalised, various modalities of the project, like model, investment and partners, would come up for discussion among the various stakeholders.
The stakeholders include the MCCIA, MIDC, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, Pimpri-Chinchwad New Township Development Authority and the Maharashtra government.

Pune to become ‘wire-free’ by 2007

TIMES NEWS NETWORK


Pune: In a major initiative towards making Pune the “world’s first wire-free city” by 2007, the Pune Municipal Corporation and Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd. got together on Tuesday to announce their “unwired Pune” dream project.
“The move will go a long way in branding and positioning Pune as the major information technology (IT) hub in India,” municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer announced at a press conference here on Tuesday.
Vice-president of Intel Software and Solution Group, Rick Echevarria, who was present at the press conference, said Pune will be the first city in the world to become wire-free.
This is for the first time that the Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) and Wi-Max (Worldwide interoperability for microwave access) will be executed on a vast area, spreading 400 sq.km., he said.
The total area of Pune, including the 23 fringe villages, is 243 sq. km. However, the PMC is planning to execute the project for a major part of the Pune metropolitan region, including the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and all villages in and around Hinjewadi and other software parks, Kareer said.


City will be divided into three zones. The innermost zone will have access to a 2 mbps connection while the second and third zones will have speeds of 512 Kbps and 128 kbps respectively

The city will be covered by a network of 10 Wi-MAX towers and 800-900 Wi-Fi hotspots to provide seamless connectivity

High-end solutions to a wire-free world


Pune: The unwired Pune project, to be completed by 2007, will not only enable citizens to access the internet from any spot in the city and facilitate better education, health care and e-governance, but will also go a long way in branding Pune as a major IT hub, says municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has set aside Rs 7 crore in its budget to execute the project, though Kareer admitted that the actual cost of the project had to be worked out.
Kareer said the cost would vary, depending on various factors. He said, as per the tentative plan, Intel will be required to set up at least ten major transmission towers in various parts of the city.
However, there are several internet service providers in the market who have already set up towers. Some of them have approached the PMC with offers to allow the use of these towers for the proposed transmission. “This can save the cost and time for acquisition and installation of towers and we will be able to complete the project by 2007,” Kareer said.
The PMC had decided to provide the service free of cost. However, it is now contemplating imposing a charge for those who will need high speed connectivity and large data transfers. Kareer asserted that the charges would be much lower than the existing rates for such connectivity.
When it was pointed out that wire-free networks are susceptible to tapping, Intel Software & Solutions group vice-president Rick Echevarria said Intel would be carrying out the job using “very high” security specifications.
Asked why developed cities across the world have not yet executed a similar project when the cost was estimated to be just around Rs 7 crore for a 400-squarekm area, Echevarria said, “The project should be sustained. There should be many users. Pune is an ideal location. Also, the technology is relatively new. We are optimistic that after the project is successfully implemented in Pune, many other cities will opt for it.”
Pune mayor Rajani Tribhuvan said elected members of Pune would support the project. City Congress chief Abhay Chhajed and Asia-Pacific SSG-Global Developer Relations division of Intel director Narendra Bhandari were also present at the press conference.

What is it?

Wi-fi enables computers and other computing devices to use high speed internet without the need for wires, while Wi-Max offers longer ranges (up to 30 miles) and greater transfer speeds than Wi-fi
Wi-Max and wi-fi technologies compliment each other and are often used together in community wide wireless solutions, says Intel


M.G. road goes wi-fi


Pune: In keeping with modern trends, the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) has introduced wi-fi wireless internet connectivity on M.G. road as an added attraction to its walking plaza initiative.
Wi-Fi stretching from Hotel Aurora Towers to Sant Namdeo chowk became operational on Tuesday, although the formal launch has been scheduled for March 25.
The PCB has announced a 90-day free period for all users.
PCB executive officer Bhaskar Reddy said the “hot zone”,
with active support from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), has been set up by HOL Infosolutions Ltd.
Certain areas on either side of the road will also have access, Reddy said, adding that this is the first time wireless internet facility has been implemented in the outdoors in any urban area of the country.
Users are required to register their names, addresses and telephone numbers at Doughhmain restaurant, where the user name and password will be issued instantly.
Reddy said BSNL has provided 2 Mbps of bandwidth for the wireless internet facility.
Taskeen Khan, chief technology officer of HOL Infosolutions, had earlier said that after the free trial offer, citizens will be able to latch on to the wi-fi network, even using their existing computers, by adding an attachment worth roughly Rs 2,000.

WOW!! thas real cooooooooooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!!

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Pune: In keeping with the trend of mid-sized foreign companies encashing the cost and labour advantage offered by India, Germany’s global leader in stitch-bonded fabrics, Saertex, commissioned it’s first plant in Asia in Pune on Monday.
The 100 million euro firm plans to cater to the Asian market for multiaxial fabrics from its India plant at Hinjewadi IT park in Pune and will initially focus on manufacturing of glassbased stitch-bonded multiaxial fabrics for applications in the windmill and transportation industries.
“Gradually, we will move to ship and boat-building, aviation, automotives and construction industries sectors,” Marc Schrief, global director (sales and marketing), Saertex, told reporters on the sidelines of the inaugural function, on Monday.
Apart from the potential market, language skills — so crucial for the technical products, a strong intellectual property (IP) culture and highly trained people including textile engineers, is what prompted Saertex to choose India over China for their Asia plant, Schrief said.
The Asian market, so far, was being served by Saertex manufacturing facility at Paarl in South Africa, which will continue to produce for India, but at a much lower volume compared to the new plant, Schrief added.
Saertex has started with two of the planned six manufacturing lines and hopes to go fully operational by the March-end, with a strength of 35 people including 24 technicians and attaining a manufacturing capacity of 6,000 ton by end 2006. Also, it hopes to make 6 million euro revenue from sale in the Indian market in the first year of operation.
Globally, Saertex has been associated with aviation majors like Airbus and Boeing and has invested 10 million euro in an aerospace flying parts manufacturing facility that will roll out products by the end of 2006.
To a question, Schrief said that the Indian plant would also come in picture for Saertex business in aerospace sector, which was growing globally with potential in Japan, China and India alike. “Military vessels is another area,” he said.
According to Saertex India head P.K.C. Bose, posttsunami, a lot of funding agencies have got into financing boat building activity in countries like Sri Lanka and Maldives apart from coastal south Indian states like Kerala where back water tourism is a major business.
“The trend of people opting for small to mid-size boats at these places was on the rise, which offers a vast potential market for us as our fabric plays a crucial part in weight reduction of boats,” Bose said.

The Rs 4,000-crore township that farmers built

http://specials.rediff.com/money/2006/mar/22sld1.htm

Magarpatta City is a landmark in Pune. Situated on the road to Solapur, it is a planned city on 400 acres of land. What is unique about it is that it has been developed by a farmers' co-cooperative -- some 120 families consisting of 800 individuals.

TCS to add 2,500 jobs at Pune R&D centre by 2008

Pune, March 25: ASIA’S largest software company, the $2 billion Tata Consultancy Services, will double its R&D headcount in Pune by 2008. It has 2,500 people at the Tata Research and Development and Design Centre here, which will turn 25 this October.

Announcing this, S Ramadorai, CEO and MD, TCS, said the company is looking at opening a development centre in Nagpur. ‘‘Like Pune, which is looking very important on the TCS map, Nagpur is an ideal location to expand in the state because of the availability of graduates.’’

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=175296

Pune, March 27: IF innovation is an ‘‘awfully important’’ part of the $5 billion Symantec Corp’s — the fourth largest software company in the world — target to grow to $10 billion by 2010, then Pune is the ‘‘centrepiece’’ of that quest. Inaugurating the new Symantec India Centre of Innovation at Baner here today, Symantec chairman and CEO John Thompson said: ‘‘We expect our footprint in Pune and India to double in the next two years from 1,700 to 3,400.’’

While the new Pune centre can house 650 people now, headcount is expected to grow to 1,500 by the end of the year. Besides Pune, Symantec, a leader in security software, is looking at cities like Bangalore (Wipro Technologies does customer support and small amount of product development for Symantec worldwide with a team of 1,500) and Chennai to expand.

Though Thompson refused to give details about investment plans in India, he said ‘‘as we look for long-term growth, it’s imperative that we expand in Pune and throughout the Asia region’’.

Of the six acquisitions Symantec did in the past year, three (Veritas, a leader in storage software, Bindview and Cygate) have development centres in Pune. ‘‘Many of the innovative products Symantec has been looking for started right in this city,’’ said Thompson. Now, the Pune centre is working on two ‘‘path-breaking’’ products — one a tool to protect consumer interactions and another a storage and server foundation suite — that will be released in the June quarter worldwide.

According to Anil Chakravarthy, VP, India Technical Operations, who recently took over leadership of India operations, ‘‘Symantec is looking at the Pune centre to continually push the boundaries in software development.’’

Pune has been rated at no 3 as the best emerging city in the world to start business by Forbes


http://www.forbes.com/2006/01/30/06caphosp_globalcities_slide_3.html

Also,

The continuing cost pressures characterising India’s Tier I cities — Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi and Tier II cities — Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune, are encouraging more companies to actively look at Tier III cities to satisfy their future requirements for the offshoring of business processes

The most suitable locations for different companies, are:

Scenario A - Companies entering India, Cities of choice - Tier I: Bangalore, Mumbai, or Delhi

Scenario B - Companies present in Tier I cities and looking to expand into cities offering large pools of skilled labour (labour driven). Cities of choice - Tier II: Hyderabad, Pune, or Chennai; Tier III: Kolkata or Nagpur

Scenario C - Companies present in Tier I cities, and looking to expand into cities offering lowest cost (cost driven). Cities of choice - Tier II: Chennai; Tier III: Ahmedabad or Chandigarh

Scenario D - Companies present in Tier I cities that are expanding rapidly into locations offering access to multiple labour pools.
Cities of choice-Tier II: Pune

Chokhi Dhani comes to Pune

Our Regional Bureau / Mumbai/ Pune April 12, 2006


Chokhi Dhani, the Rajasthani village resort, promoted by NRI Gulraj Vaswani, has granted its franchise in Maharashtra to Pune-based Goel Ganga Group.

Goel Ganga’s Managing Director Atul Goel said that the first resort has been opened last Sunday at Vagholi near Pune. Also, Goel Ganga intends to open Chokhi Dhani resorts in other major cities of the state.

Goel said the group has invested about Rs 2 crore to set up the resort, on 13 acre that is a replica of the Chokhi Dhani - the ethnic Rajasthani village resort outside Jaipur.
“Chokhi Dhani (which means, Fine Hamlet) has always been synonomous with Rajasthani culture and we have created the same atmosphere with mud and thatched huts, cottages, havelis, restaurants, Rajasthani folk dances and performers.

The flagship Chokhi Dhani resort is in Jaipur, and the second is in Indore, and the third is now coming up in Pune. Around 130 villagers including artisans, cooks and performers from Rajasthan have come to Pune Chokhi Dhani to provide warmth and hospitality as per the Rajasthani tradition of ‘Padharo Mhare Des.’

The group expects that the Chokhi Dhani would attract visitors from all over western India and will soon become a centre of tourist attraction just like Chokhi Dhani Jaipur and Indore.

“The other cities in Maharashtra have not been finalised yet but we will soon have an announcement,” said Amit Kumar, director, Chokhi Dhani, Pune. He however informed that the Pune resort will soon offer residential facilities in the specially built cottages. Vaswani said that the company has nation wide expansion plan through the franchisee route.

The resort targets people across the economic strata,” he said.

Posco to set up $14 million unit in Pune

Prince Mathews Thomas / Mumbai April 18, 2006

The steel maker tied up with LG in a 65:35 joint venture for the Pune centre.

South Korean steel major Posco will process and sell 1.3 lakh tonne of electrical steel from its upcoming Posco-India Processing Centre (POS-IPC) in Pune. Earlier this year, the steel maker had tied up with consumer electronics major LG in a 65:35 joint venture for the centre.

A senior official at Posco’s Indian office stated that the $14 million centre will come up by November this year. “Almost 25 per cent of the output will be sourced to LG and the rest will be sold in the local and international markets,” the official said.

“We foresee a surge in demand for electrical steel in the country owing to huge investments in the power sector and the expanding white goods sector. And there are hardly any players processing this steel in India,” he added.

Electrical steel is used in the manufacturing of electrical home appliances and for transformers. One of its variants, CRGO steel, is used in making transformers and at present, the country imports the entire requirement of the value-added metal.

The centre will include four cutting and shearing machines, including a grain-oriented magnetic steel sheet and strip facility, and will be capable of producing up to 130,000 tonne of electrical steel sheets.

It will be located in Pune’s Talegaon Industrial Complex, which is surrounded by large-scale transformer manufacturers, including Siemens.

Many electronic appliances manufacturers, including LG and Whirlpool, also have manufacturing facilities in the complex and are expected to demand large volumes of electrical steel sheets.

After production begins in November, Posco will introduce a core cutting machine that can manufacture cores for transformers and motors, enabling the new coil centre to be considered a specialised centre for electrical steel sheets.

The company has constantly invested in overseas processing centres since the mid-1990s with the intention of making these centres play active roles in supporting Posco’s overseas marketing of steel products.

The steel manufacturer, at present, operates 12 processing centres, including the POS-NPC, which opened in early February in Nagoya, Japan. With the addition of the POS-IPC in India and POS-MPC in Mexico later this year, Posco will have 14 processing centers across the globe

http://www.ciol.com/content/news/2006/106042107.asp

PUNE: IT and BPO services provider Hexaware Technologies today inaugurated its software development center at the Cerebrum IT Park in Kalyani Nagar here.

It is the company's third development center in India after Mumbai and Chennai. The new center will provide services in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) – PeopleSoft and Oracle, .Net, Java, Testing and product lifecycle management (PLM).
At present, the Pune center can support 250 software professionals. Atul Nishar, founder and chairman, Hexaware Technologies said: “ We want to expand the Pune center as a full-fledged campus just like our Chennai operation. There the first phase would be ready by 2007 and can house 3000 people. The campus area spans 27 acres and will be able to support 10,000-11,000 people.”

Further he added that the company plans to have campuses in Mumbai and Pune followed by tier two cities in the North-east and South. The company intends to increase headcount from 4124 people to 5000 by the year-end.

Rusi Brij, vice president and CEO said, “Currently we have invested $20 million in Chennai for the first phase of the project and are planning to invest the same amount per year in Mumbai and Pune for better infrastructure.” Hexaware will also start a BPO arm in Pune soon.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=180123

City infrastructure gets Deshmukh push


Pune, April 28: Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh also gave an in-principle approval to Pune Municipal Corporation’s plan to spruce up the civic infrastructure ahead of the Commonwealth Youth Games. PMC chief Nitin Kareer told Pune Newsline that the package includes a Rs 210 crore road network connecting the Balewadi sports complex with the airport, an elevated road along the river to link the airport with the sports complex and a road connecting the city sports centre at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Balewadi; a Rs 130 crore rapid bus transit system on six routes and a Rs 150 crore fund for various things like cleaning up public spaces, creating parking facilities and so forth.

Dear Pune boarders,

Iam a chennai boarder and generally post my opinons only on Chennai board. But iam here to post my displeasure at the language used by this boarder by the name "Pding" who visits all other boards including Chennai's. He may not have used such language on this board. But if situation arises he can give into using foul language. I strongly request you guys to boycott his comments unless he gives an unconditional apology on all boards

alright, i just figured sathish posted this message in all the threads in this damn forum. mods, seriously, take some action.

Dear Pune boarders,

Iam a chennai boarder and generally post my opinons only on Chennai board. But iam here to post my displeasure at the language used by this boarder by the name "Pding" who visits all other boards including Chennai's. He may not have used such language on this board. But if situation arises he can give into using foul language. I strongly request you guys to boycott his comments unless he gives an unconditional apology on all boards

spam? provincialilism?? getting personal??? acceptable????

Australia-based intelligent transportation systems (ITS) major Efkon is setting up facility at Pune to develop ITS exclusively for the Indian market. Efkon India, the company's Indian subsidiary, will invest $3-5 million over two years in the facility.
The company has already kicked off operations with a staff of 30 people. At present, work on highway traffic management systems (HTMS) for the Indian roads is underway. The centre will also integrate existing systems and bring them on same platform for the users.

"The centre is also likely to be upgraded to a global excellence centre, with around 100 employees by the end of the year," said Pushkar Kulkarni, CEO, Efkon India.

HTMS technologies are increasingly being used on highways in the country for more efficient traffic management and communciations. Efkon's HTMS technology has been deployed on the Jaipur Kishangarh stretch of National Highway no 8 and some parts of Gujarat.

Typically, an HTMS system would include variable message displays, weather stations, emergency call boxes and weigh-in-motion sensors which allow the highway concessionaire to check the overloading of trucks, which in turn damages the black top on the highway.

A black top meant to last for 4-5 years can be damaged in just 2-3 years if overloading is not checked, which in turn will add to the cost of the highway concessionaire, said Kulkarni. However, he pointed out that in India the weigh-in-motion sensors are still being used to collect data and not check the overloading.



http://www.business-standard.com/search/storypage_new.php?leftnm=1&leftindx=1&subLeft=1&autono=89582

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Pune: A full-fledged trade office is set to come up at the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) international convention centre on Senapati Bapat road by this year-end.
Announcing this here on Thursday, British deputy high commissioner of Mumbai, Vicki Treadell, said, “The upgradation of the existing business information centre to a full-fledged trade office in Pune is to recognise Pune’s emergence as a commercial and academic centre on the world stage.”

Treadell, who joined as deputy high commissioner in February and is the first woman to hold the post in India, said the move is to further deepen UK’s interests in India, and Pune in particular. The trade office will open in October-November.
Also, Treadell said three UK companies in the automobile sector would set up manufacturing bases in Pune. She, however, did not identify the companies.
Initially aimed at consolidating partnership with the 150 Pune-based companies which have prominent links in the UK, she said the trade office would explore avenues to forge ties in areas of research and development between UK-based universities and research institutions in Pune. A two member team, headed by trade and investment adviser Avnish Malhotra from the business information centre, will be appointed at the Pune office. Decision on increasing staff will be taken after a review next year.
Treadell said many Indian corporate houses were looking at the UK as a gateway to the European market. Of the Indian investment in Europe, almost 60 per cent goes to the UK. Last year, the largest share of investment by Indian infotech companies (36%), followed by financial services (12%), pharmaceuticals (11%) and automobiles (8%).
On British prime minister Tony Blair’s initiative last year on the UK-India education research initiative (UKIERI), Treadell said efforts were on to match the R&D requirement between the two countries. “We are closely looking at sectors like bio-technology, health care and pharmaceuticals.”
She said that of the 16,000 student visas issued to Indians last year, 6,300 were from Western India. “This is a growth of 20 per cent over the previous year.”

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/05/06/stories/2006050602980400.htm

Pune has done it again. It has recorded software exports of Rs 9,100 crore as compared to Mumbai, which has clocked Rs 7,300 crore, for the fiscal 2005-06.

Talking to Business Line, Mr P. Venugopal, Director, Software Technology Park of India (Maharashtra), said Pune registered a 48-per cent year-on-year growth to touch Rs 9,100 crore, up from Rs 6,150 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2005.

In percentage terms, it is second only to Hyderabad, which has reported 51 per cent year-on-year growth. He said for the current fiscal, a cumulative growth of 30 per cent is expected.

Mr Venugopal noted that the State Government had given Letter of Intent to many private players for developing IT parks in the city. He said the Government had promised fiscal and non-fiscal benefits to these players.

He said more than 100 companies had registered for space in the Software technology park and the majority of them are involved in the research and development, engineering services and embedded technology. And this has been the scenario for the past three years, he said.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/05/06/stories/2006050604270100.htm

Likely to be located in Pune at an estimated cost of Rs 400 cr

To develop home-grown high performance computing solutions

Uses a new theory of interconnects based on the mathematical principles of `projective geometry'

System to outperform fastest machines like Blue Gene of IBM

New Delhi , May 5

The Tata Group is likely to float a new company whose focus will be top-end supercomputers, according to reliable sources in the group.

The first initiative of this new venture, in which the Group Chairman, Mr Ratan Tata, is said to have taken personal interest, will be to build a machine based on a parallel supercomputing architecture that Prof Narendra Krishna Karmakar, the well-known Indian computer scientist, has claimed to have developed.

To an e-mail query on the venture, the Group's official spokesperson merely stated after persistent requests for a response:

MUMBAI: Are the SEZs becoming new-age zamindars? At least the amount of land being sanctioned to them does suggest so. If the size of the land being sanctioned to these new-age projects is any indication, the SEZs soon would be the country’s biggest land-holding entities.

A section of the government has started expressing suspicion about the whole SEZ concept and its utility.
With the special economic zones becoming flavour of the season and as its numbers keep rising by the day, dissenting voices are gaining momentum in government quarters about the land being approved for these projects.

A section of the government has also started expressing suspicion about the whole SEZ concept and its utility.

“There is every reason to suspect the real motive of some of the SEZ promoters. Their prime interest appears to be real estate,” a top government official confessed to ET.

To substantiate the argument, he furnished list of companies that have been eyeing huge government land at a concessional rate.

The government has every reason to doubt the move. “There are enough examples around of industrialists making more money by selling their real estate interests — which they acquire at throw away price — than running the industry,” this official said.

As reported by ET in the past, Maharashtra tops the list with the maximum number of SEZs being announced in the state.

As of now, the state has 26 sanctioned SEZs with around equal number of proposals waiting clearance. Apart from the private sector, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is also promoting them. According to official documents, some of the SEZs proposed near Mumbai are really gigantic.

As of now, Maharashtra has 26 sanctioned SEZs with around equal number of proposals waiting clearance.

If the size of the land being sanctioned to these new-age projects is any indication, the SEZs soon would be the country’s biggest land-holding entities.

Take the case of multi-product SEZ proposed by one Marathon Realty at Panvel. The land, if sanctioned, would be 2,750 acres. Another one by Dewan Investments to come up at Thane would be spread in 2,500 acres. Similar is the size of the SEZ promoted by little known Pan India Paryatan. Both these are multi-products SEZs.

Other two promoted by Mahindra and Mahindra and Bharat Forge are coming up near Pune in 3,000 and 5,000 acres and like other such big projects both have been registered as multi-product SEZs.

The one being built by the Maharashtra Airport Development Authority (MADA) would be spread in 3,250 acres.

However, the mother of SEZs would be the Reliance’s Navi Mumbai project. The Mukesh Ambani-led group has plans to merge two SEZs: Navi Mumbai and Maha Mumbai to become the largest such project in the country having a size of nearly 30,000 acres.

Other SEZs that are coming up in private sector are from Bajaj Auto, Aurangabad (260 acres), Magarpatta (30), Wipro Pune (50), Syntel International Pune (40), Shapoorji Pallonji Pune (74), K.Raheja Corporation Pune (25.69), K Raheja Universal, Navi Mumbai, (51), K Raheja Universal, Jui Nagar, Navi Mumbai (32), Hiranandani Builder (Powai) (31.07), DLF Akruti Info Parks Hinjewadi (60), City Parks Pune (75) etc.

Along with this, the state-owned Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) too has many SEZs on its itinerary. Some of them include IT and ITeS, Hinjewadi, Pune ( 775 acres), Latur, agro-processing (370), Kagal, textile (281), Nandgao, multi-product ( 2470), Bhadravati, power sector, (2717).

SEZ's approved for Pune

1. Bharat forge - 5000 acre
2. Mahindra & Mahindra - 3000 acre
3. Magarpatta - 30 acre
4. Wipro Pune - 50 acre
5. Syntel International Pune - 40 acre
6. Shapoorji Pallonji Pune - 74 acre
7. K.Raheja Corporation Pune - 25.69 acre
8. DLF Akruti Info Parks Hinjewadi - 60 acre
9. City Parks Pune - 75 acre
10.MIDC, Hinjewadi - 775 acre

Dileep Athavale / Mumbai/ Pune May 17, 2006

The company – a joint venture between Tata Power and British Petroleum – would finalise the location for the facility soon, said Arvind Karandikar, head of the western region for Tata BP Solar.

"We have identified two sites at Hinjewadi and Moshi (near Chakan) and will make the final choice in the next one month or so," Karandikar said.

Pune will be the second location in India to have a Tata BP Solar manufacturing plant. The company has a plant at its headquarters at Bangalore, where it makes both thermal systems and power solutions. The Pune plant will make only thermal (water heating) systems.

Karandikar informed that the company had decided to install a capacity to make 1,600 collectors (glass panels that house the heating systems) a month at an initial capital outlay of Rs 2 crore.

The entire capital investment would be in plant and machinery as the company would use premises leased on a long-term commitment, he added. The plant would go operational in about one year from now, Karandikar said.

Pointing to the huge real estate development taking place in the western Maharashtra region, he said the solar water heating systems sales are expected to zoom in the coming two years or so.

"We see great scope in residential, institutional, hospitality and healthcare-oriented real estate construction as well as the increasing tendency to install the systems at existing buildings," Karandikar said.

The Bangalore plant has capacity to manufacture 1,800 collectors a month on a single shift basis, which is fully exhausted, he said. Karandikar said the production at the Pune facility would be meant to cater to the company's markets in the west, central and north regions.

Karandikar informed that the civic authorities in Pune as well as Mumbai were very close to making solar water heating compulsory for all the structures in the two cities. "Thane Municipal Corporation has recently done this, opening a great opportunity for us," he said.

Disclosing that the western region's contribution to the company's annual turnover of Rs 430 crore is Rs 15 crore a year, Karandikar said the share would rise with growing activity in the region.

He said the thermal systems and power solutions businesses had equal shares in the company's total business in the western region.

Karandikar, however, ruled out the possibility of power solutions manufacturing coming to Pune, as the investments required to manufacture these units would be untenable at the current juncture.

http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu9&subLeft=&autono=92009&tab=r



Shringar plans 7 cinemas in Pune

Our Regional Bureau / Mumbai/ Pune May 23, 2006



Shringar Cinemas managing director Shravan Shroff told reporters on Sunday that the company has tied up for four out of the seven and is on the look out for appropriate locations and properties for the rest.

Shroff was here for the inauguration of the company's first multiplex Fame Jai Ganesh at Akurdi in the Pimpri-Chinchwad area. The multiplex, part of the Jai Ganesh Vision Mall, has three screens and a seating capacity of about 1,100. Shroff said two more multiplexes will be made operational by the end of the year or early next year.

"We have tied up with Kumar Builders and Kakade Construction for these two and are on the look out for suitable places in important locations to open four more," Shroff said.

Shringar Cinema already has three multiplexes in Mumbai and one in Kolkata. The company has lined up a plan to open a total of 45 multiplexes over the next couple of years.

Shroff said the company will commission multiplexes in Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Surat and Kolkata in addition to three new ones in Mumbai in the next 12 months.

Shroff said the company has been investing at the rate of Rs 55,000 per seat to create world class seating environment and interior design. In addition to the snack counters, the company is planning to offer space for those who would like to open their counters in a 'shop in shop' format.

The company is talking is to Oxford University Press to set up their Oxford Express outlets.

Shroff said the company has also planned an entry into the food courts business. The first two of these food courts will be set up in Surat and Howrah respectively, with a third one in Ludhiana.

"The first two will be of 5000 sq ft area while the one in Ludhiana would be 50,000 sq ft with multiple entertainment facilities such as slides and monorail," he elaborated.

Shringar Cinemas has floated a wholly owned subsidiary Big Picture Hospitality for the food courts business and this company will have a different head of operations and team, Shroff said.

PMC to buy 200 new buses

Express News Service

Pune, May 22: Pune will get its first brush with luxury travel in public transport with the addition of 25 Volvo buses to the Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) fleet. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)’s General Body (GB) on Monday approved the proposal to purchase 200 new buses, including 25 Volvo buses, at the cost of Rs 30 crore. The decision comes after Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer forwarded a proposal for the purchase of 200 new buses.

However, the GB rejected the proposal for hiring 150 private buses as it did not receive support from all corporators. Leader of Opposition Anil Shirole and Ramesh Bodake had forwarded a suggestion stating that the newly purchased and hired buses should ply on routes at the same time. But even this proposal was rejected as only 26 corporators supported the suggestion to the opposition of 50 corporators.

The proposal of purchasing new buses was opposed by many corporators who demanded to know the need for purchasing new buses. Kareer said that as per the directives of the Bhurelal committee, the PMT was to purchase 300 new buses and hire 150 buses. He said these new buses would not increase the fleet strength as they were required to replace the old ones. ‘‘A total of 350 buses are more than 10 years old. The PMT has to incur a high cost for their maintenance. With the purchase of 200 new buses, we will be merely replacing them,’’ he said.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=183965

Pune civic body kicks off pilot project on bus rapid transport

Sapna Agarwal / Mumbai/ Pune May 26, 2006

Taking a small step towards solving Pune's traffic woes, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has commissioned a pilot project for a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system on the Hadapsar-Swargate route.

PMC commissioner Nitin Kareer said the BRT model, which requires building dedicated bus lanes for mass transit, is already a huge success in Latin America. Bogota in Colombia and Curitiba in Brazil have deployed it successfully, he said.

Explaining that work for implementing the BRT has already begun, Kareer said, "The detailed design for two-lane system as required for the project is finalised. We have begun work on a 4.5 km stretch at Hadapsar and on a 5-6 km stretch on Satara Road. The pilot will be ready in three months."

Detailing the progress of the project, he said, "In the coming week, we will hold a meeting to discuss issues such as the purchase of buses, minor changes required in the final plan regarding bus shelters and lane segregation. Though the procurement of electronic display systems may take time." PMC had appointed noted traffic expert Geetam Tiwari of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, as its official consultant for the project.

This project however may not prove to be the final solution for Pune traffic problems. The civic body's proposals on sky bus and tram bus mass transit systems are still not finalised.

Kareer said, "We have set up task forces for studying the various modes of transport - non-motorised transport, Pune Municipal Transport, metro and bus rapid transport. These committees will give us recommendations by May end."
The corporation has also circulated a document as a concept note on the city's public transport policy to different stake holders.

"We have started deliberations with various stakeholders such as citizens, NGOs, corporators, police, RTO, private operators and mohalla committees among others. Once these deliberations are over and the document is finally approved, it will become the key document for clearing other proposals in future," said Kareer, hinting that the exercise may take well over three months.

The Central Railways' Pune division, which earned a revenue of Rs 405 crore for the financial year 2005-06 as against an expenditure of Rs 175 crore, would undertake a number of measures to improve passenger facilities, including giving giving a '21st century look to five stations'.

"Pune, Kolhapur, Miraj, Sangli and Satara railway stations would see expansion of passenger facilities at a cost of Rs 8 crore," said P K Saxena, divisional railway manager.

The railway station in Pune, which is a heritage property, would have new boundary wall, special lighting work, coupon-validating, coin-vending and automated soft drink and milk vending machines and a broadband-connected cyber cafe.

While special work has been sanctioned for the platform number two and three in Pune, a new platform was being built at Kolhapur and an existing one is being raised in Sangli, Saxena said.

Saxena also informed that new colour-based signalling system between Pune and Miraj stations has become functional replacing the old relay-based one.

Track conversion measuring about 250 km has been completed in the division.

Saxena said five trains would run as superfast from July one.

The trains that have been made into superfasts are Pragati (Pune-Mumbai); 2133-2134 Pune-Darbhanga; 2147-2148 Kolhapur-Nizamuddin; 2701-2702 CST, Mumbai-Hyderabad and 2729-2730 Pune-Nanded. The Pune-Nanded has now become a bi-weekly train from tri-weekly.

As many 32,000 passengers arrive or leave daily in 40 local trains and 40 long distance trains (each way) from the Pune railway station, he said.


Pune City to get continuous power supply by June 1

Pune, May 28: The country’s first public-private initiative to mitigate power woes is now just a step away from realisation as the Confederation of Indian Industry and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd will take a final decision on the date of implementation in Pune on Monday. Sources said the proposal is expected to be implemented before June 1, thereby giving uninterrupted power to the city.

The trials that began on Friday to test the unique experiment have been successful with over 20 industrial units participating in it. Currently, the city undergoes nearly two-and-a-half-hour power cut every day and faces a shortage of 180-200 MW during peak hours.

‘‘We have been testing the captive power plants (CPPs) for the last three days and the results are very encouraging,’’ former president of CII’s Pune unit and chief architect of the project Pradeep Bhargava told Pune Newsline

As per the CII-MSEDCL proposal, the industrial units will generate and consume their own power during the peak hours. This will relieve the load in the MSEDCL grid and the extra electricity will be supplied to the Pune consumers, eliminating the need for load-shedding. Since the running of the CPPs involve operational costs like fuel, MSEDCL will have to reimburse the industrial units the differential amount — between the cost of running the CPPs and the electricity bill of the units.


http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=184933

Tuesday, June 6, 2006 (Pune):

Pune has become the first Indian city to become free from load shedding, a feat despite the city facing a shortage of power.

The residents of Pune, angry about the frequent power cuts, went on a rampage and ransacked the local electricity board office in June 2005.

The city, like the rest of the state, still faces a power shortage. But this year, there has been no load shedding so far.

The change came about because of a unique partnership, the first of its kind in the country.

Thirty of Pune's top industries will generate their own power instead of drawing it from the state electricity board. This is expected to make up for nearly 100 MW shortfall in the city.

"Pune has become the first city in the country to successfully introduce this concept and now the city will have no power cuts," said Dilip Walse Patil, Maharashtra's Energy Minister.

Alleviating hardships

The companies would be compensated at the rate of Rs 11 a unit for the fuel costs they incur to produce their own power.

This in turn would be passed onto those residents who use more than 300 units of power a month.

"We will be charging 42 paise per unit to only those customers who use over 300 units per month," said Sanjay Bhatia, Managing Director of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Centre.

This initiative also achieves the social objective of alleviating the hardships caused by the shortage of power.

Other cities across the country too are keen at replicating the Pune model, with power becoming a perennial problem.



http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?category=National&slug=Pune+free+from+load+shedding+woes&id=88790

Pune has become the first Indian city to become free from load shedding

not quite true. but very good news for pune. my dad was telling me about it

rest of maharashtra too should try this. though in the long run serious reforms need to be taken and new capacities installed. this cant be a long term solution. captive power is expensive and will only drive away investments

Yes i hope they are having some long term plans...This temporary arrangement which started on June 2-3 is still good news for Puneties as they wont have any more power cuts in summer or will be minimum..Even though the 30 big industrial units are being compensated well..but this unique way would be good for a few months or a years but not too long... i hope the dabhol plant starts running to its full capacity and other ways should be used like wind energy to meet power demands..

Pune has become the first Indian city to become free from load shedding

Kolkata has no 'official' loadshedding for years now. Mumbai is also well pampered.

Kolkata has no 'official' loadshedding for years now. Mumbai is also well pampered.

NDTV should have said ...

Pune becomes first city in the country to mitigate load-shedding through public-private partnership

Kolkata has no 'official' loadshedding for years now. Mumbai is also well pampered.

bombay hasnt had load shedding for decades now. and i wouldnt use the word pampered. most of the power is from private players and every consumer pays an additional stand-by charge on every unit paid for, that allows tata and reliance to draw power from the state grid in case its needed. we are basically paying insurance for uninterrupted supply, its a solid written agreement. besides t&d losses in bombay are amongst the lowest in the country, a few % points, and collections are extremely efficient

Pune: LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LG Electronics of South Korea, has commenced operations of its greenfield facility for an optical disk drive (ODD) plant at Ranjangaon.
The company plans to invest Rs 300 crore in the ODD plant by 2010, which is one-third of the Rs 900-crore it has invested in the Pune facilities. With this, LG has become the first to manufacture DVD writers in the country and the facility is the second largest in Asia. The facility has a capacity to produce six lakh DVD players per month. It is slated to become a major export hub for the product.
The greenfield facility at Ranjangaon will manufacture premium end models of the ODDs which are primarily for export to the European markets, according to K.R. Kim, president (South Asia) of LG and managing director of LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd.
The company plans to produce 25 million DVD writers by 2008 and aims to achieve exports of $450 million by then.
“The optimism that the Indian consumer durables market has to offer has driven us to invest Rs 900 crore (including our partner investments) for the manufacturing facilities in Pune. Out of this Rs 300 crore would be invested in DVD writers alone,” said Sachin Saxena, factory head, Pune of LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd.

Pune has become the first Indian city to become free from load shedding, a feat despite the city facing a shortage of power.



As Sun & Bombay boy has said, it is not quite true. Kerala is also free of load shedding at present.

As Sun & Bombay boy has said, it is not quite true. Kerala is also free of load shedding at present.


Im not sure y all the newspaper are claiming that then...NDTV, Indian Express, Times of India...surely must be something different to quote that by such leading newspapers....

Pune, June 22: Cipla Ltd is planning to set up a Rs 384 crore manufacturing facility at Kurkumbh MIDC, about 75 kms from here. Cipla said the new facility was being planned to meet the growing demand of various products in the international market.

The new facility, with a capacity to produce 320 tonnes of API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) and 200 crore formulations per year, will produce antiretroviral, anti inflammatory, anti diabetic, anti bacterial, antipsychotic and anti hypertensive drugs.

Joint Managing Director of Cipla Amar Lulla confirmed the company’s plans, saying the work on project is expected to commence in a couple of months. ‘‘According to the rules, approval of Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board is required to set up the facility. The work of setting up the plant would begin once the approval is granted,’’ he said.

Lulla said the turnover of the existing plant was about Rs 1,000 crore. The new plant, a 100 per cent export oriented unit, is expected to add another Rs 1,000 crore to the annual turnover, he said.

“No decision on awarding the engineering procurement contract for the new plant has been taken as yet. The plant would be indigenously run and Cipla would not have technical tie up with any foreign company for the project,’’ Lulla said.

The facility, which would come up near the existing plant of Cipla, is expected to create job opportunities for 400 people in the drought prone Daund taluka of Pune district.

Sayaji plans 950-mln-rupee Pune hotel project

MUMBAI, June 22 (Reuters) - Sayaji Hotels Ltd. said on Thursday it would invest 950 million rupees to build a hotel in the western city of Pune.
The 200-room hotel would be completed in two and a half years, the hotel and restaurant chain operator said in a statement.

The property would also have 100 service apartments

2-day event to display well-designed products

By Abhay Vaidya/ TNN

Pune: After emerging as a major educational hub and an infotech hotspot, Pune is now preparing to don a brand new identity: the design capital of India. In a major initiative, a number of design professionals here have joined hands with the industry to hold the first-ever Pune Design Festival in November.

The festival which aspires to grow on the lines of the annual London Design Festival five years from now, is being spear-headed by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci). It will be cohosted by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) at their new International Convention Centre which is the biggest in India.

The idea for such a festival grew from the fact that a number of India’s awardwinning design studios such as Design Directions, Elephant Design and Onio Design, besides those of firms such as Philips, Wipro Lighting Systems and LG are based in Pune.

The event will seek to focus on five areas of design, namely, product, industrial, retail, graphics and IT design. Case studies of campaigns that succeeded because of well-designed communications will also be discussed at the seminar.

Pune, June 30: Going the hi-tech way the Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) has decided to scrap the old traditional way of punching its coloured tickets and introduced e-tickets instead. The trials of e-tickets have already begun at the Swargate depot and commuters travelling on Swargate- Hadapsar, Swargate-Alandi, Swargate - Sangvi, Swargate-Kothrud and Swargate-Malwadi routes are being handed the e-tickets.Currently two computerised ticketing machines have been provided to PMT by city based Tapi software.

PMT General Manager, Niranjan Kumar Sudhanshu said, ‘‘After the successful trials, we will be introducing e-ticketing at 18 main bus stations. Tenders will be floated by August this year for the same.’’


The functioning of the machines is similar to a fax machine. After feeding the number of tickets and the kilometres to be travelled, the paper roll in the machine churns out the ticket. Depot manager, Sunil Bhurse said that the ticket also provides the name of the route (Swargate- Golibar maidan) along with the date and time. Importantly, the machine carries the information of the total number of tickets issued to the passengers, amount collected and the number of passengers in a particular trip. ‘‘The system ensures transperancy and accuracy in handing the tickets to the passengers. Also their is a ready record of the amount and the passengers with the conductor,’’ Bhurse said. After the day’s work the conductor has to just connect the machine to a USB chord of a computer and the data gets transferred.

Manager traffic and personnel, Shivraj Rane said that the new system would help in immediate calculations and solve the problems of maintaining store inventory, ticket blocks etcetera. ‘‘The calculations of the amount of tickets issued and amount deposited by a particular conductor monthly takes atleast 15 days. But with e-ticketing, it is possible for us to conduct the daily calculations in minutes,’’ he said.

62-member delegation to build stronger ties

Express News Service

Pune, July 3: PUNE’s prowess as the auto component hub of the country will get another boost on Tuesday when Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero makes his first visit to the city on a whistle-stop tour inaugurating a design centre, visiting manufacturing facilities and looking for tie-ups with Indian firms. Part of the three-day tour to the country, Zapatero will lead a 62-member strong delegation that includes 27 technical delegates and 35 dignitaries — ministers and senior officials from business, tourism, science and technology and security department — to look at increasing corporate, technical and cultural tie ups between the two countries.

After arriving at Lohegaon, Zapatero’s itinerary includes visiting three auto component industries that have been set up with Spanish collaboration. He will begin with a visit to the Tata Ficosa plant at Hinjewadi — a joint venture between the Tatas and Ficosa International — followed by a trip to original equipment manufacture Rinder facilities and winding up the tour by inaugurating a design centre of Grupo Antolin at Vimannagar.



While Tata Ficosa deals with parking-brake, automotive command-and-control, rod-and-cable gear-shifting and washer, Rinder manufactures lighting equipment for the automotive industry and Grupo Antolin makes overhead, door, luggage compartments and seat systems.

The delegation would leave for Mumbai later in the evening. Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure that no untoward incident takes place during the delegation’s visit to the city.

Four deputy commissioners of police, six assistant commissioners of police, 24 inspectors, 60 sub-inspectors and over 750 constables will be deployed for the security arrangements.

Pune civic body kicks off pilot project on bus rapid transport

...PMC commissioner Nitin Kareer said the BRT model, which requires building dedicated bus lanes for mass transit, is already a huge success in Latin America. Bogota in Colombia and Curitiba in Brazil have deployed it successfully, he said.

Explaining that work for implementing the BRT has already begun, Kareer said, "The detailed design for two-lane system as required for the project is finalised. We have begun work on a 4.5 km stretch at Hadapsar and on a 5-6 km stretch on Satara Road. The pilot will be ready in three months."

Detailing the progress of the project, he said, "In the coming week, we will hold a meeting to discuss issues such as the purchase of buses, minor changes required in the final plan regarding bus shelters and lane segregation. Though the procurement of electronic display systems may take time." PMC had appointed noted traffic expert Geetam Tiwari of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, as its official consultant for the project.

This project however may not prove to be the final solution for Pune traffic problems. The civic body's proposals on sky bus and tram bus mass transit systems are still not finalised.


Why do the decide on BRTS when there are so many other choices like MRTS, MOnorail, Tram Etc...?
why should they look at Latin America while the rest of the world is going for MRTS and Monorail?
what about oil prices? pollution? high maintenance/ operating cost of BRTS?
is there some kind of "Volwo lobby" active in Indian cities ?

Why do the decide on BRTS when there are so many other choices like MRTS, MOnorail, Tram Etc...?
why should they look at Latin America while the rest of the world is going for MRTS and Monorail?
what about oil prices? pollution? high maintenance/ operating cost of BRTS?
is there some kind of "Volwo lobby" active in Indian cities ?

There is a light-rail system in Pune currently like in Hyderabad/ locals trains in Mumbai..but its just on 1 route so MRTS would just be an extension of this. Traffic experts noted that people dont travel more than 10km to their work place in Pune as most of the industries/offices are spread all over the city and there is no particular industrial zone and metro would not be feasbile either.

There is a tram project under planning. A team from Bremen ( sister city of Pune ) had come to pune to prepare a DPR for the routes. Hopefully the work should start this year end. But its just on 1 straight route for now about 35-40 km from Hadapsar to Nigdi along the old Mumbai Pune highway that runs through the city.

I have no idea why they havent considered Monorail. Even the skybus was proposed for the city by konkan railway. but i guess the officials are waiting for some other city to implement it and then think about it from its success.

BRT was considered for Pune as Pune is one of the three city members in the Partnership for Sustainable Urban Transport in Asia (PSUTA), others being Hanoi and Xian. The PSUTA is sponsored by the Swedish International Development Agency and the Asian Development Bank through the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities. Pune has the highest number of 2-wheelers in India and BRT was considered for the reason that these 2-wheelers create a lot of pollution + BRT costs Rs 10 crores per km while metro costs Rs 300 crore.

Buses in Pune are very old and few in numbers and they badly need replacement. Infact for the population of Pune there are only 1000 buses currently..while Mumbai had 1800 buses in 1971 when its population was similar to Pune's current population. Even ther merger of the PMT and the PCMT has been pending for long due to political reasons.

Even though the MAH govt. has given the go ahead for any mode of transportation, no matter what it costs...its just the decision makers and political parties/corporators who are taking forever to decide. The oppositions are doing a gr8 job at turning down everything thats been proposed for the city. :bash:

... but Karnik roots for Pune as R&D hub
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=191435

Pune, July 5: HAVING already become the first city in the country to have successfully tried out a public-private partnership in solving the power situation, Pune will now make another attempt to try it out to become the first WiFi city. Giving the roadmap of ‘Unwired Pune’ project, municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer said the Pune Municipal Corporation will start implementing the project in a phased manner by this year-end.

‘‘The radio frequency study has been completed and Intel (technology advisor) will be submitting the report in the next four to five days. Then we will work on the partnership model that should be come in within the next 15 days and also the design parameters will be finalised by next week. We will start implementing it by year-end,’’ Kareer said at the plenary session of the first ‘Knowledge Management’ seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry on Wednesday.

Giving details of the project that would help in connecting people and providing better accessibility to the citizens, Kareer said 10-15 WiMax base stations would be set up with each base station having 100-120 CPUs that will act as access points for WiFi. The reason: Even citizens who do not have a computer can access them.

The PMC has already earmarked Rs 7 crore for the project and Intel has been selected as the technology advisor.‘‘The issues of reliability, quality and security of the services is being worked out by Intel that has been working on it for the last three months,’’ he said.

Kareer said while the PMC would provide the initial funds for the project, it will be leveraging the towers set up by the cellular companies and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and street light posts to set up the WiMax and WiFi umbrella.

‘‘Mysore, Bangalore and Ahmedabad are all trying to be 100 per cent unwired city and they are planning to float a tender document soon. But Pune will be the first city to set up the infrastructure and provide these facilities to the citizens,’’ he said.

This is for the first time that the Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) and Wi-Max (Worldwide interoperability for microwave access) will be executed on a vast area, spreading 400 sq km — includes Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and the area coming under the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park at Hinjewadi. The total area of Pune, including the 23 fringe villages, is 243 sq km.

There is a light-rail system in Pune currently like in Hyderabad/ locals trains in Mumbai..but its just on 1 route so MRTS would just be an extension of this...

BRT was considered for Pune as Pune is one of the three city members in the Partnership for Sustainable Urban Transport in Asia (PSUTA), others being Hanoi and Xian. The PSUTA is sponsored by the Swedish International Development Agency and the Asian Development Bank through the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities. Pune has the highest number of 2-wheelers in Pune and BRT was considered for the reason that these 2-wheelers create a lot of pollution + BRT costs Rs 10 crores per km while metro costs Rs 300 crore.

Buses in Pune are very old and few in numbers and they badly need replacement. Infact for the population of Pune there are only 1000 buses currently..while Mumbai had 1800 buses in 1971 when its population was similar to Pune's current population. Even ther merger of the PMT and the PCMT has been pending for long due to political reasons.

Even though the MAH govt. has given the go ahead for any mode of transportation, no matter what it costs...its just the decision makers and political parties/corporators who are taking forever to decide. The oppositions are doing a gr8 job at turning down everything thats been proposed for the city. :bash:

Thanks for the detailed update Cncity.
Lets up hope our Netas and Babus will do some thing good for the people.

City has highest number of teachers and students to meet the growing needs of the IT industry

Anuradha Mane

Pune, July 7: WATCH this. Pune has the highest number of Japanese speakers and with 70 teachers of the language, it is way ahead of several metros like Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata.

Fuelling this unique status is Pune’s job market where knowing a foreign language helps, but if you know Japanese you have the edge. The city’s growing status as an IT destination where the industry needs people with knowledge of Japanese has added to the demand.



Consider this. Among the 5,294 people who took the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), an international exam held worldwide last December, 2,275 applicants were from Pune. Cities like Chennai had 1,785 applicants, Delhi came third with 1,026 while Kolkata put up just 208 candidates.

The Japan Foundation India (JFI), a part of the Education and Foreign Affairs Ministry of Japan, that conducts the exam has compiled the statistics. “The Japanese Language Teachers’ Association (JALTAP) conducts our tests in Pune. The setting of the questions and evaluation are done in Japan. The Pune-Mumbai region has had the highest number of people appearing for the test in India,” says JFI assistant programme officer Randeepa Kaur.

Figure like these make people like JALTAP president Suhas Mate happy. After all, he has been watching the language grow in the city since the 1970s. “Nichiko Igarashi was one of the first Japanese language teachers in the city, followed by others like Nichiko Tendulkar and Hari Damle. They helped set up the department of Japanese language at the University of Pune in 1978,” says Mate.

So when the city began to ride the IT wave, there were many who knew the language here. Mate points to another interesting fact where people from Marathi background learn Japanese. “The structure of Marathi and Japanese is similar and has lead to a comfort level while learning the language,’’ he says.

“The city certainly is a hub for Japanese. The University of Pune, with 17 teachers, is one of the strongest Japanese language departments in the country. We have about 700 students for various certificate and diploma courses per year,’’says Mugdha Yardi, in-charge of the Japanese language section.

Moreover, there are about 20 private institutions that teach Japanese to students and corporates. Yardi says there is a new corporate trend, “ IT companies would hire professionals with technical knowledge and then teach them Japanese to deal with the business. Today the trend is completely reversed.” Which is what made the UoP start a course in Business Japanese and a Diploma in Japanese Translation and Civilization.

There are other opportunities too. Aparna Chandrachood, who works as a Japanese translator, interpreter and teaches at the Indo-Japanese Association, Pune, feels the demand for people knowing Japanese will grow. “After learning the language for three years, I now handle projects related to translation of chemical patents, banking systems and software programming,” she says.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/07/19/stories/2006071902731900.htm

Pune will soon be home to the first research & development, testing and validation centre dedicated to the forging industry in the country with the Minister of Heavy Industries, Mr Santosh Mohan Dev, laying the foundation stone for the centre on Monday.

The Rs 22-crore project, coming up at MIDC's Chakan industrial estate, is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, the Association of Indian Forging Industries and the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Forging Industry Division, and is expected to be operational by October 2007.

The centre will have facilities such as a research and development lab, product testing, validation and certification centre and consultancy in addition to a management and technical skill upgradation facility.

With Pune being one of the major automotive manufacturing clusters in the country, such a centre is expected to bring in benefits to the domestic forging industry's quest to go global.

Mr Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office, Mr Baba Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Forge Ltd, and Mr Sukhdev Ganotra, Director, ARAI, Forging Industry Division, were present on the occasion.

The centre is likely to benefit the forging industry in industrial research and development work, transferring newer technologies to industry, strengthening documentation and information retrieval services and disseminating relevant information and knowledge.

From Tintin’s land, 20-million euro headed Pune way

BELGIAN CONNECTION I Not quite beer ’n’ chocolates yet, but confectioneries may be on way

Rajesh Menon

Pune, July 21: IT is not the usual suspects - the US or the UK firms - that have emerged on top of the Pune investment brigade. The latest source of fund flow is the ‘Land of Tintin’ famous for its beer and chocolates. Belgian companies, having already marked their presence in Pune’s industrial belt, will be pumping in close to 20 million euro in the next year, mostly for expansion.

‘‘In the last 10 years, the Gujarat-Tamil Nadu belt saw investment of 50 million euro, but I think that half of it will come within a year. I expect 20 million euro to be invested by these companies in Pune alone,’’ Consul General of Belgium Herman Merckx told Pune Newsline on Friday.

From a food processing company to 3.1 billion euro giant Bekaert, all these companies are eyeing Pune for their expansion plans. The reason: It is the industrial backbone of the country, has got education facilities and is the number two IT centre of India after Bangalore, according to Merckx.

He said these companies are looking at the Mumbai-Pune belt for space to expand. ‘‘The two major companies in the food processing sector and a company specialised in the development and marketing of high-quality aluminum systems for outside constructions (Reynaers India) are looking for a suitable piece of land somewhere between Mumbai and Pune,’’ he said.

In fact, Beakert, advanced metal transformation and material and coatings firm that is present in over 170 countries and has a manufacturing facility at Ranjangaon on the outskirts of Pune is also scaling up. ‘‘They have a major centre in China (Bekaert is present in five locations in China), but in Pune they have already tripled capacity and are going to expand further. It is catching up with China,’’ Merckx, who had a three-year stint in China before moving to Mumbai, said.

An advocate of Pune, the Consul General is optimistic that Pune will overtake Mumbai to become the most-preferred destination for business. ‘‘I think in 20 years, Pune will be more important than Mumbai and our industrial and economic relations are most with the Pune companies,’’ he said.

Merckx points out the saturation of Mumbai and cost as limiting factors. ‘‘Mumbai does not have space to develop and is becoming very costly,’’ he said.

And it is the skillsets in engineering and auto components that has made Pune attractive for these companies. ‘‘Especially, in engineering design the skills are available here. Also, Pune companies are investing in Belgium by going in for acquisitions. The future investment will come from Pune,’’ trade commissioner for Flanders, Brussels and Walloonia Raj Khalid said.

No wonder then that the consulate has decided to celebrate the Belgian national day in Pune on Friday. ‘‘From this year, it will be an annual event,’’ Khalid added.

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Pune: The third largest chain of multiplexes in India, Cinemax, will soon make its foray into Pune city by November 2008 with two multiplexes in Kalyaninagar and on Karve road.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with Kumar Builders three months ago, under which Cinemax multiplexes will open at two new malls that Kumar Builders plan to construct.
“The Kalyaninagar Cinemax will be a six-screen multiplex spread over 400,000 square feet, while the Karve road one will be over 200,000 square feet with five screens,” says Devang Sampat general manager, marketing and sales.
Cinemax a subsidy of the Kanakia group, already has a presence with 33 screens in Mumbai and Nashik. It has planned to go in for a pan India expansion where they will open multiplexes in cities all over the country, including metros like Delhi and Kolkata, and B-cities like Nagpur and Guwahati. Over the next five years, Cinemax has plans for 500 screens all over the country.

There is a proposal to build high class villas and apartments in 100 acres before Hinjwadi junction off Mumbai Expressway. This will have a golf course, club house, man made forests, water bodies at the centre. All the villas and the apartments will overlook the golf course as the region is like a bowl. Similar townships will enhance the image of Pune as the destination for IT and auto majors.

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai/Delhi: The Tata-Fiat alliance is moving into second gear. The automobile majors have agreed to form a joint venture to manufacture passenger cars, diesel engines and transmissions for the Indian and overseas markets. They have also agreed to explore possibilities of a similar partnership in Argentina.
The JV—to be based in Ranjangaon (Pune)—is expected to begin production of a premium compact car, the Fiat Grande Punto by early 2008. This will be followed by a new Fiat sedan. Tata Motors, which is already running out of capacity at its own plant in Pune, will also manufacture its cars at the facility.
Though the firms did not divulge the investment required for this project, experts believe it could be upwards of Rs 2,500 crore. Ravi Kant, MD, Tata Motors, said, “The details of the joint venture like the investments are being worked out and we will be in a position to talk of it when the agreement is formalised. The companies will hold an equal stake in the JV.’’
The Ranjangaon facility—when it operates at full capacity—will roll out 1 lakh cars and 2.5 lakh engines and transmissions per annum. De Filippis Giovanni managing director Fiat India said, “Diesel engines from the Ranjangaon plant will also be supplied to Tata cars manufactured at their Pune plant.’’
Fiat is considering to ‘optimise’ its plant at Kurla. De Filippis said, “We have faced a lot of problems with the Kurla plant and there is a lot of idle capacity here. The plant and operations are currently being reviewed.’’
They will undertake a 60-day study on the possibility of industrial and commercial cooperation in Latin America, which traditionally has been a big market for the Italian automaker. The study will be focused on utility vehicles and pick-ups, and on exploring the opportunity of using Fiat’s existing production facilities in Cordoba, Argentina.
“This is the beginning of what promises to be a farreaching, long-term relationship between the Fiat group and Tata Motors,’’ Tata group chairman Ratan N Tata said.


TWO TO TANGO

The firms have agreed to explore possibilities of a similar partnership in Argentina. The joint venture will be based in Ranjangaon and is expected to begin production by early 2008. The companies will hold an equal stake in the JV.

Source: Hindu

Maharashtra, which has fallen to the fifth position in software exports from the country, is all set to woo major IT companies to the State.

Talking to presspersons here on Wednesday, Mr Arvind Kumar, IT Secretary, said through these efforts, Microsoft is expected to begin its software development centre in Pune. He said an investment of $150 million is expected and that the final details are being worked out. He said this would not be in the STPI (Software Technology Park of India).

He said a delegation from IBM had also visited the State and was actively looking at opportunities here.

Mr Arvind Kumar, who was in the city to participate in InCSights 2006, organised by the Computer Society of India, said that Maharashtra, which had pioneered in software exports with the setting up of the Santacruz Export Processing Zone, had slipped to the fifth position. Cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Noida were doing well while Maharashtra now accounted only for half of Karnataka's software exports.

Bill Gates’ Microsoft to open shop in Pune

Express News Service

Pune, July 26: THE Big Brother of software industry Microsoft Corp has finally decided to incorporate Pune on its global map and is expected to set up the first development centre in the city by this year-end. ‘‘Microsoft is expected to invest around Rs 1,000 crore for setting up its development centre by end of 2006,’’ Maharashtra IT secretary Arvind Kumar said.

The $44.28-billion software giant’s decision comes after the State government gave an assurance to it that adequate measures will be taken to safeguard its intellectual properties. ‘‘We have also given them an assurance that the company can bid for any government contracts,’’ Kumar said.

Currently, Microsoft has a development centre in Hyderabad — the biggest one outside its headquarters in Redmond in the US — with over 1,000 employees and it has already stated that it plans to double the headcount in India over a period of three years.

I think there are some other more pressing issues need to be solved by PMC, rather than bringing wi-fi.

works on karve road, flyovers on university road are going on and on......................................

Pune’s GDP at Rs 46,000 is 50 pc higher than India’s

Express News Service

Pune, July 27: Pune’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is about Rs 46,000 which is 50 per cent higher than the country’s per capita income. It is higher than Hyderabad’s and on par with Bangalore’s. Also, Pune has the least income disparity between its rich and poor, says the Environmental Status Report for 2005-06 released by the Pune Municipal Corporation on Thursday.

The GDP, underlining the size of the city’s economy and its standard of living, can trace a direct correlation with its IT boom and sizeable investment in the automobile, electronic, software, bio-technology, large and small-scale companies. It is also emerging as a prominent centre for BPO companies.


The projected software export is estimated at Rs 9,000 crore in 2006-07, up from Rs 7,500 crore last year. While 109 IT companies have made their offices in Pune, another 100 companies are in the process of setting up base here. The overall industrial sector too has witnessed a boom time with 1,700 new companies setting up base here — a 25 per cent growth.

The educational sector has also helped the city’s economic growth. Pune has attracted about 8,000 foreign students from 62 countries and this migration has resulted in a significant surge in business - hotels, garments, stationery, theatres and transport.

This has translated to higher tax collection, service tax and income tax. Service tax collected in 2005-06 is Rs 630 crore, a 85 per cent rise as compared to the previous year. Similarly, income tax collection has increased by 27 per cent and stands at Rs 6,710 crore. I-T officials have pegged the current year’s collection target at Rs 8,414 crore.

The flip side though is the rising population that is threatening to spoil the city’s party. In the past five years, the estimated growth in the population is 24 per cent — up from 23,76,900 in 2001 to 31,87,800 in 2005. Similarly, the migrating population has doubled over the past five years from 43,900 in 2001 to 88,200 in 2005.

Pune is a thriving base for horticulture and floriculture activities. It is also emerging as an agri-business centre with daily transaction of Rs two crore. This includes fruits, vegetables and groceries.
The city has about 6,000 licensed vendors of vegetables and fruits.




http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=194461

Edited

That heading is so misleading.

How can Pune's GDP be 50 pc higher than India's? It is the per capita as specified in the article.

As of 2001 the city had a population of 2,540,069. The next census is in 2011. So how did they get the figure of 3,187,800 in 2005?

Yes Suncity, the heading's very misleading ...it should be the GDP per capita.

Pune Population according to Wikepedia and past Newspaper articles is around 4.5 million , 4485000 to be precise in 2005 ...

The figure of 3,187,800 for 2005 does not include the population of Pimpri-Chichwad. A lot of different articles sometimes dont include the population of Pimpri Chichwad (PCMC) just because it is a different Municipality than Pune's ( PMC). While some newspaper do include it as it is a part of Pune. There might soon be a merger of both the municipalites. Pimpri chinchwad had a population of about 1.2 million in 2001. so the estimates for 2005 for the whole of Pune city is about 4.5 million.

As far as tax collection is concerned the Chief Commissionerate Pune Region encompasses the entire state excluding Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Nagpur. It comprises 18 districts including Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Nashik, Pune, Raigad, Sangli, Satara, Sindhudurg, Solapur and Thane.

Besides the 3 malls in Pune right now - Pune Central ( 160,000 sq ft ) and Nucleus (300,000 sq ft ), City Mall (100,000 )sq ft there are 18 more malls coming up in the city,, most of them under construction. Of these The Connaught Place already opened up earlier this year.

There are other big box stores already present like Pyraminds (2), Westside, Lifestyle, Shoppers stop ( 2 ) and Globus has plans to come up with a store in the future, while there are 7 multiplexes in the city, none of the in the 3 malls, all stand alone multiplexes. - Inox , E-Sqaure, City Pride ( 2) , Gold Adlabs , Mangala, Fame.

There is also another 1 Million sq ft mall planned by Kumar builders for the which the design should be out in the next few of months and West End mall in Aundh ( 245,000 sq ft ) which is not included in the list below.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/430/1pu5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/07/31/stories/2006073101150300.htm
GM finalises deal with Maharashtra
Sudha Menon

Pune , July 30

General Motors has finalised a deal with the Maharashtra Government to locate its second manufacturing facility in the State.

The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has already earmarked 300 acres for the greenfield plant, after the company came to an agreement with the Government over the terms for the deal, a top MIDC official said.

"The company is expected to sign an MOU with the State Government to this effect in the next few days," the MIDC official said. The 300-acre land is believed to be at the Talegaon Industrial Estate, about 50 km from here.

For General Motors, the proposed new plant could be the first step towards its stated aim of garnering a 10 per cent share of the domestic car market by 2010, with plans being finalised to manufacture Daewoo's Matiz, under the Chevy Spark brand.

The Spark is expected to go into initial production at GM's Halol facility by March 2007, but will be shifted out to the new plant, sources said. The plant will also eventually manufacture a range of other products from the GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Company stables.

"We are still in the process of finalising our manufacturing footprint in India and I don't want to comment on this at the moment," the General Motors President, Mr Rajeev Chaba, said when contacted.

Talented workforce: The company's decision to locate the new plant at Talegaon is believed to be largely based on the fact that the region has traditionally been an automotive hub. Located close to Pune, the company is believed to be betting on the region's large talent pool of skilled workforce in the automotive space for its new plant.

Thats gr8 news for Pune..3 big companies planning to set up shop in Pune in a week.... Microsoft with Rs 1000 cr investment, then Tata-Fiat Manufacturing plant and now GM's manufacturing plant ..and IBM planning to expand base from the already huge campus they have in the city...thats going to put Pune on the world map in the auto industry . Telco, Mercedez Benz, Fiat, GM, along with two major 2-wheeler companies.. Bajaj , Kinetic and Bajaj Tempo ..India's first Auto cluster and Bharat Forge..looks promising for the city.

Hopefully the infrastructure develops along with these developments

Pune, August 1: Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer has forwarded a proposal to the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) Standing Committee for appointment of a consultant to prepare a master plan for launching the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in the city at large scale.

The Pune Municipal Corporation has already moved steps in this direction by introducing the pilot project of BRTS on Solapur and Satara roads. The implementation of the BRTS project will be done by the civic administration in three years. Kareer has suggested the names of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi and Bhosari based Central Institute for Road Transport (CIRT) as consultant for the master plan.

In his proposal, Kareer has stated that considering the traffic situation in the city there is a need to prepare a Bus Rapid Transit System network for which a master plan should be in place. He also added that both IIT, Delhi and CIRT have forwarded a proposal to the PMC for preparing the master plan.

The master plan itself will be prepared by both the bodies in a period of one year at a cost of Rs 30 lakhs plus 12.24 per cent service tax. The master plan will include consolidation of the Bus Rapid Transit System reports prepared by the Pune Municipal Corporation, preparing a BRTS network, preparing maps, identifying and detail designing of bus-stops, parking, service roads and cycle tracks as well as estimating the cost.

By Abhay Vaidya/ TNN

Pune: In an extraordinary real estate initiative, multiple ecological and technological challenges are being addressed in the construction of India’s first infotech-driven megacity, coming up 60 km west of Pune.
The widespread use of Geographical Information System (GIS) technologies in the planning and construction of the massive Lavasa Lake City has emerged as one of the key highlights of the new satellite township. GIS refers to powerful, infotech-based tools used for effective urban design and planning.
“It (Lavasa project) is one of the few examples in the world where GIS technologies are being used in raising an entire city from scratch,” Lavasa Corporation’s architect and urban designer Anubandh Hambarde told a gathering of IT professionals here on Wednesday.
At the same time, Hambarde acknowledged that the Lavasa planners needed to be extremely careful as they were making major modifications to the hilly terrain on which the township was based. Ensuring that Pune’s new satellite township with its projected lakhplus population does not pollute one of the main sources of water to Pune city (Warasgaon dam) is one of the major challenges facing planners, Hambarde said.
The thrust of his presentation at the Computer Society of India’s (Pune chapter) INCSights 2006 seminar was on the innovative use of GIS technologies in the planning and construction of Lavasa Lake City.
Planned on 4,000 hectares of hilly terrain, the Lake City is rapidly coming up as Pune’s satellite township in the Mulshi taluka of Pune district. Such is its scale that the city has been designed to have 22,000 properties, a residential population of 1.10 lakh, an anticipated annual tourist flow of four lakh people and a 15-20 km long lake.
Relaxing and energetic would be the character of the lake city, which would target property buyers from the aspirational middle class to the high income families. Properties would range from apartments to two-acre estate homes with adequate low-cost housing for housemaids and other service staff.
The lake city has already constructed its own mini-dam (Dasve), created out of the submergence of the Warasgaon dam — one of the sources of drinking water supply to Pune city. Hambarde said that ensuring the township does not pollute this source is among the major challenges facing planners. “We are imposing some kind of danger to the water supply of Pune. We have to be very sensitive to ensure that water purity for Pune city is maintained,” he said while acknowledging the ecological implications of the project.
Hambarde said Lavasa’s GIS team headed by G.S. Rao has created an infotech backbone for every aspect of the city’s planning and construction, ranging from e-governance, taxation, street naming and addressing system to preventive maintenance.

SATELLITE TOWNSHIP



•Location: 60 km west of Pune in Mulshi taluka

•Area: 4,000 hectares

• Size: 22,000 properties, 1.10 lakh residential population

•Anticipated annual tourist flow: 4 lakh

•Township to house hotels, retail malls, IT and BT parks

• 15-km long lake for captive water body

•Infotech-driven urban planning, systems

British Business Group set up to increase bilateral trade, woo investments

Express News Service

Pune, August 2: IT may sound cliche, but even the British have started accepting Pune’s potential as a business rival to the Silicon Capital of India — Bangalore. ‘‘Puneites have a lot to be proud of... Pune can be a real rival for Bangalore,’’ British deputy high commissioner Vicki Treadell said.

The reason: Unlike Bangalore, Pune has IT, manufacturing and other sectors. ‘‘This city has the potential to be not just the second city of Maharashtra, but a significant city of India,’’ Treadell, who inaugurated the British Business Group in Pune on Tuesday night, said.


The intentions are also clear — from formally opening a trade office in the city in the next three months to visit by British delegations in automotive industry in September and January and an all-women’s delegation in October — the British Business Group (BBG) will try and attract investment from the UK companies to Pune.

‘‘This will be followed by a delegation focusing on the scope and chances of investment in the construction sector,’’ BBG chairperson Vandana Saxena Poria said.

‘‘This forum will work towards removing the obstacles and impediments that come on the way of movement of capital, goods and personnel. We will take up the issues at appropriate political levels and see that changes can be made for facilitating smooth transaction of businesses among the two countries,’’ Treadell said.

Interestingly, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) from India are more to the UK. According to Treadell, about 60 per cent of the Indian investments in Europe is in the UK. Treadell further said the British companies are keenly looking at the Indian automotive sector, pharma industry and business process outsourcing (BPO).

However, Pune’s infrastructure and bureaucratic red-tape came in for some criticism. ‘‘While it takes a single day to renew visas in Mumbai the same takes two-three months in Pune,’’ she said, but was quick to add: ‘‘Pune has more open space and scope for developing its infrastructure.’’

The forum will meet on the first Tuesdays of every month and will look at real penetration of business interest in Pune. There are 67 British companies in Pune and 115 with the UK links.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=195312

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=100466&leftnm=1&subLeft=0&chkFlg=
GM lines up Rs 1,300 cr for Pune plant

General Motors, the world’s largest car-maker, has finally decided to produce its small car — Chevrolet Spark — at Talegaon, near Pune, in Maharashtra. The company will invest Rs 1,300 crore inr setting up a unit to manufacture the vehicle.

The plant, with an initial capacity to make 45,000 cars, will be ready for production by 2009. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed between the company and the Maharashtra government here today.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, and Industry Minister Ashok Chavan were present on the occasion.

The plant will be spread over 300 acres, and will generate direct and indirect employment for 3,000 people, said sources in the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).

Chevrolet Spark will have a 1,000-cc petrol engine. Till the new plant is ready, Spark will be rolled out from the Halol facility in Gujarat, beginning March.

The early introduction of the company’s small car in the market is being done keeping in mind the excise duty cut for small cars announced by the Union government in this year’s Budget.

GM will step up the production capacity at Halol to 85,000 units per annum by the end of the year. At present, the facility produces 50,000 units. The additional capacity of 35,000 units will be utilised for the small car.

Until recently, GM was eyeing the Surajpur plant of the now-defunct Korean car-maker, Daewoo India. However, prolonged negotiations with the company’s key lenders on the issue of taking over the liabilities of Daewoo in India did not fructify in favour of the American car major.

Tatas prescribe $10 million for drug venture in city

Express News Service

Pune, August 3: The Tata Group that has a huge presence in Pune added another segment to its already existing line of auto and IT investments by setting up a drug discovery facility at Hinjewadi biotech park on Thursday. The facility of Advinus Therapeutics Private Ltd, a venture promoted by the Tata Group with former research head of Ranbaxy Rashmi Barbhaiya, will attract an investment of $5-10 million initially.

‘‘Looking ahead into the future, the group is committed to being in new high technology and knowledge-based industries and pharma is one such area,’’ Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata said.


Advinus Therapeutics is a drug discovery and development company catering to the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. Spread over an area of 20,000 sq ft, the discovery arm of Advinus will undertake novel drug discovery and generating IP primarily in the area of metabolic diseases and inflammation.

‘‘Backed by its strong team and infrastructure, we believe Advinus will partner global majors in creating value from their research efforts and improve the quality of life,’’ Tata said.

The Tatas first venture with a technocrat will be complemented by its IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). ‘‘This venture is uncommon and we believe that such a business model backed by the combined experience of Barbhaiya as chief executive officer and managing director and shareholder holds tremendous potential. TCS which is already in the bioinformatics and life sciences space will complement the pioneering efforts of Advinus,’’ Tata Sons executive director and Advinus chairman R Gopalakrishnan said.

Advinus, which also has a large operation in Bangalore with an 8-acre campus with over 180,000 sq ft of built up space, is eyeing opportunities in the companies based in the US and Europe who are looking at cost-effective, high quality solutions for their R&D programmes.

Barbhaiya, who said that after leaving Ranbaxy had the option of going back to the US, decided to stay on in the country because: ‘‘I had come to India with a mission and creation of Advinus Therapeutics offers an opportunity to leverage the India advantage to discover and develop novel drugs with speed and cost-effectiveness.’’

Advinus, which currently has 55 scientists in Pune, will have an estimated workforce of 550 employees by 2010 ‘‘comprising some of the best available talent pool from across the globe’’. Drug discovery at Advinus will focus on generating novel small molecule therapies for indications in three disease clusters: metabolic disorders, inflammatory diseases and neglected diseases of the developing world.

Pune: In a major milestone for the manufacturing industry in Pune, Tata BlueScope Steel Limited, a Rs 1,200-crore joint venture of Tata Steel and Australian steel company BlueScope Steel, opened a 30-acre facility at Hinjewadi, Pune, on Monday.
The plant, which houses a design centre and a corporate office of the company, will manufacture pre-engineered building systems and solutions.
This facility is the first of the three planned by the company. The other two are under construction at Sriperumbudur near Chennai and Bhiwadi, Rajasthan. This is part of the Rs 1,300 crore investment that the company has made for the construction of the three facilities and a metallic coating and painting facility at Jamshedpur. The company intends to use this facility to cater to the growing construction industry in India and the Saarc region.
According to Chetan Tolia, MD Tata BlueScope Steel, the demand for steel is growing rapidly due to the boom in the automotive and appliances sectors, fuelled by high middle class consumption, and also to the heightened industrial construction activities across India.
Citing the example of the Pune facility, which itself is constructed using the technologies being manufactured, B. Muthuraman, MD Tata Steel said, “The time period of construction is greatly accelerated by the use of pre-engineered building components, compared to the traditional process.” TNN

Pune makeover: Rs 65-crore Central funds to manage traffic

Express News Service

Pune, August 11: The march towards a bigger, better Pune gained pace after the Centre approved in principle the first phase of the Rs 1000-crore Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system for the city that will improve the chaotic traffic situation. On Friday, the Centre okayed the first tranche of Rs 65 crore under the Jawarharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for the pilot projects that will run from Swargate to Hadapsar and Swargate to Katraj.

The Centre has already sanctioned Rs 99 crore for the construction of five sewage treatment plants under the same scheme. The approval was a shot in the arm for the Pune Municipal Corporation that feared a thumbs down from the Centre since it had failed to comply with the tax reforms like raising the property tax. which was not accepted by the general body.



The civic body had mooted the BRTS as a solution to the city’s traffic problems and later this project was included in the JNNURM road network plan. The project comprises a 100-km bus network including a ring road and river side road.

The BRTS will have two continuous motor vehicles and dedicated bus lanes running in both the directions. A 3.3 m bus lane, two 6 to 7 m motor vehicle lanes with a footpath of 1.8 to 2.5 m will come up on both these roads.

The roads will also have cycle tracks. A separate service lane with a footpath, light poles and storm water drains will be provided. Bus shelters, 11 on Satara Road and 7 on Solapur Road, will also come up.

The PMC’s idea is to increase the use of public transport in the city and the BRTS is being viewed as the catalyst to this change.

Central team to visit Pune in September
Advisor to the Union Planning Commission APN Singh and a three-member expert team will visit Pune in early September to inspect the infrastructure for the Commonwealth Youth Games. The team will take decision on the Rs 492-crore infrastructural projects of the PMC and Rs 140 crore projects of PCMC along with Rs 192 crore-project for the Balewadi sports complex. These projects have been submitted by the State government to the Centre for final approval

Now, you can buy ’em all in Pune
By Padmaja Shastri/TNN

Pune: French hypermarket Le Marche, part of the top international retail Group ‘Geant’ has signed a letter of intent (LoI) to take up 1.25 lakh sq ft space — all at a single level — in a shopping mall under construction at Kalyani Nagar.
Marks & Spencer, UK’s iconic retail chain, has taken space in another mall, to be inaugurated later this month. It is also setting up shop at another mall coming up on Ganeshkhind road, which will open in October-November.
With top international fashion brands like Giorgio Armani, Gucci and Tommy Hilfiger looking for space in Pune, according to market sources, shopaholics will encounter a great new experience.
A number of global retail chains, international apparel and fashion brands like UK’s Debenhams and Spanish fashion apparel brand Mango have either bought space in city malls or are planning to do so.
“We are negotiating for suitable space with a number of malls and high street shopping centres in Pune for all the brands we represent in India, except the premium Swiss brand Bali,” said a senior official of Fashions Brands Pvt Ltd. All these brands will be available in the city in the next six months, he added.
This Mumbai-based company is a franchisee for numerous international apparel, lingerie and footwear brands
including Mango, French clothing brand Promod and Canadian lingerie brand La Sen Za. The company also represents a host of footwear brands like Canada’s Aldo Shoes, Nine West of the US and Charles & Keith of Singapore.
Delhi-based Franco Leome Shoes is also bringing a number of international footwear brands into Pune.
In fact, many of these international brands are planning more than one store in the city. Italy’s sportswear brand Kappa and casual wear brand Bossini have signed up for space with two local shopping malls.
Most of these brands will be entering Pune after setting shop in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. While those already present in the city will be expanding their presence.
Market studies conducted by retailers revealed that Pune has approximately 75,000 people working in the IT and BPO sector. Most of these are under 30 years of age, earning fat salaries, have no dependants, hence have a ample to spend on fashion.
International brands are hurrying up to enter the city to take advantage of this growing base of high spending consumers, when retail rentals are relatively low. At present, rental rates for retail in Pune range from Rs 75 to Rs 200 per sq ft per month.
The global retail rush in the city is also driven by the fact that it is virtually raining shopping malls in Pune. Around 20 malls between 1 lakh sq ft and 7 lakh sq ft are coming up at key locations across the city and are expected to be operational over the next two years.

Rally against bad roads
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Pune: To protest against the poor condition of city roads, the Arogya Sena, a voluntary organisation, will hold a public rally opposite Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) main gate on August 19.
Abhijit Vaidya, president of the organisation, said the rally will be held to express citizens’ anger. “The most disappointing thing is that though people are losing their lives corporators and civic administration are insensitive towards the whole issue.”
The rally was a method to send a message to the authorities that citizens could come on to the roads if their lives were in danger, Vaidya said.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=137087

Pune’s tryst with successful contemporary automotive products started with the 1998 launch of Indica by Tata Motors. It continued with Bajaj Auto’s Pulsar, Mercedes from Daimler Chrysler India to forgings from Bharat Forge. And, today, the most audacious attempt ever made in Indian automotive industry — Ratan Tata’s one lakh car — is taking shape at Tata Motors engineering research centre in Pune.

But this is just scratching the surface. According to B N Kalyani, chairman, Bharat Forge, Pune has potential to attract investment flows of $10 billion and morph into a global automotive hub. By 2015, an auto component exports opportunity of $8 billion will be available to the Pune industry creating a million jobs in the Pune region. “The present size of India’s automotive component industry is about $10 billion. It would be safe to assure that Pune-based industry’s share is in the region of $2.5 to $3 billion. The component industry’s exports amount to $2 billion, out of which Pune industries contribute about $600 million,” says Kalyani.

Pune’s engineering strength, its proximity to the Mumbai port and booming export-oriented businesses have it buzzing with activity. (See graphic.) The frenetic pace of activities in the auto sector has attracted venture capitalists (VCs) into Pune as well. International Finance Corporation has invested $7.7 million in RSB Transmissions. Temasek-owned India China Pre IPO Equity (Mauritius) Ltd is investing $3 million in Uma Precision, a transmission parts maker. Other deals are in the works.

Apart from the VCs, global sourcing executives of leading auto companies too can be seen in the city scouting for suppliers. “International Purchasing Offices are coming to Pune. Both Cummins and DaimlerChrysler are here. Other international players are initiating enquiries and some of them have even struck deals with our members. Of the 500 ACMA members, 160 come from western region,” says Ramchandra Rao, chairman, western region, Auto Component Manufacturers’ Association. Deutz AG, Uzel, DaimlerChrysler, Same Deutz, Cummins Inc.,Lambhorgini and GM are among those looking for suppliers. Deutz AG’s sourcing alone would be worth €1 billion by 2008, say sources, adding DaimlerChrysler is sourcing parts from India and has an independent team on the job.

More Pune companies join MNC club

If the software entrepreneurs are the poster boys of Indian exports, the steady growth in the manufacturing sector in the past couple of years has encouraged quite a few players from the sector to look for greener pastures overseas.

Importantly, these players are looking beyond the presence in foreign countries in the form of a marketing company or a representative office, to actually establish their own manufacturing facilities or take over existing ones.

Leading the pack is the world’s second largest forgings manufacturer Bharat Forge Limited. The company has, over the past couple of years, acquired businesses overseas to create a chain of companies in three continents; Europe, America and Asia.

The company has established it presence in China in the form of a joint venture the country’s largest automotive group FAW Corporation where it holds a majority 52 per cent stake.

“One feels proud to see the Indian tricolour in a country like Germany or U.K.,” says Bharat Forge chairman Baba Kalyani. And the numbers his company has turned out bear this pride out. The consolidated revenues of the company in the financial year 2005-06 comprised Indian revenues of Rs 2,109 crore whereas the revenues outside the country amounted to Rs 3,085 crore, nearly 50 per cent more than the home revenues.

Kalyani is itching for more, yet would like to play the waiting game as he feels the major restructuring of the automotives sector in the United States will throw up interesting opportunities for acquisition. “The automakers in the US have shown some signs of a change in their vendor development approach and we, with our size, stand a good chance to work with them,” Kalyani points out.

He adds that the company will soon shift one of its Germany-based plants to the US. Among the positive fallout of the strategy is the advancement of Kalyani’s target of becoming the number one forgings company in the world.

Also on the MNC trail is two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto Limited which has recently set up a joint venture in Indonesia to make two and three wheelers.

In fact Pte Bajaj Auto Indonesia, where Bajaj Auto holds 95 per cent equity stake(the rest is with a management consultancy organisation), has already started importing CNG three wheelers.

According to Bajaj Auto executive director Sanjeev Bajaj, the company will soon set up an assembly unit in Indonesia and import complete knocked down kits of three wheelers from the Indian parent and eventually start manufacturing the units, barring some critical components. Nigeria and Columbia are on Bajaj’s cards too.

Energy and environment engineering firm Thermax Limited already has quite a few subsidiaries overseas, but is seriously considering to expand its presence in the Europe and West Asia markets. Chairpereson Meher Pudumjee recently told the company’s shareholders in the annual general meeting that Thermax is now prepared to explore the opportunities in the hitherto uncharted areas.

“We will expand the offices in the Middle East to have a fuillfledged sales and marketing team there,” she had said. The company is also eying the OEM market in the Unites States and plans acquiring an existing brand to make an entry there.

Another player on the acquisition bandwagon is ethanol technology major Praj Industries. After vindicating its technological capability through a Rs 2 crore order from a US ethanol maker to supply technology as well as plant, the company is training its guns on a ‘suitable’ unit to acquire in the US market.

Of course Praj too has set up companies abroad but the breakthrough in the US markets is what has sent chairman Pramod Chaudhari on a high.

“The US is a major ethanol opportunity and having a foothold there will spell huge possibilities for Praj,” says Chaudhari, who is waiting with a Rs 170 crore kitty thanks to investments coming from venture capitalist and ethenol evangellist Vinod Khosala and Japan’s Marubeni Corporation.

MNC dreams is, however, not the prerogative of the big alone, as the city-based Uma Precision Limited too is looking at acquiring businesses in the US.

Rajendra Kankaria, managing director of the Rs 90 crore auto components company, says, “We have established ourselves as manufacturers of world class components and would be keen on picking up businesses in America which we can turn around, while benefiting from the advanced technology they have.”

And if global funding organisations like the International Finance Corporation has invested in Bharat Forge or Bajaj Auto, Uma Precision has garnered equity funding from India China Pre-IPO Equity (Mauritius) Limited and H&M Global Selection Pte Ltd, an investment arm of the Kurahara business family in Japan.

With the strength of Pune as a manufacturing hub fast regains its recognition, the city based businesses seem to be responding to the call and striving to keep the country’s flag flying high in the countries of the world.

http://www.business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?leftnm=1&subLeft=6&chklogin=N&autono=101539&tab=r

RAILTEL z Railways’ innovative plan to commercially utilise idle facilities comes to the city

Soniya Tripathi

Pune, August 14: COUNTLESS cups of coffee and pacing the platform are passe. As the city’s roads and traffic make it necessary to leave a considerable time-gap to board a train or receive someone, passing time on the station is only going to get easier.

Aimed at increasing passenger satisfaction, the Ministry of Railways has introduced yet another amenity at Pune Railway Station—a swanky new Railtel Cyber Cafe.


Situated on Platform 1, the cyber cafe‚ has 14 computers and is currently being run as a pilot project. ‘‘The cafe‚ was opened on July 31 on an experimental basis and is functional from 8 am to 10 pm,’’ said cafe‚ incharge Amar Nath. After garnering the response, the 1 giga byte-per-second broadband Internet facility will be operational round-the-clock, said railway officials.

Established in September 2000, Railtel Corporation of India Limited—a public sector undertaking, it is a 100 per cent subsidiary under the Ministry of Railways—was set up to commercially utilise the Railways’ communication assets that were lying idle.

Central Railways (Pune division) Public Relations Officer Y K Singh said, ‘‘The cyber cafe is a part of the drive to provide passenger-friendly amenities for rail-users and outsiders.’’

‘‘The land for the cafe was provided by the Railways in February. Internet facilities will be provided at a cheap rate on coupon-basis, and will cost Rs 12 for 30 minutes and Rs 23 for an hour. The coupons, if unused, can be utilised at any other station,’’ he added.

As part of the plan, Railtel will augment and modernise the existing infrastructure to provide communication facilities for commercial purposes to the railways while Tata Indicom will be the service provider.

Meanwhile, the competition on the platform is building up as the railway station already has a private 24-hour cyber cafe‚ handled by Comesum, the fast-food joint in the station premises.

For P N Ritesh, who works with a multinational pharma company in Mumbai, the cyber cafe‚ came as a surprise. Reaching the station to board the Indrayani Express after finishing his work early, he spent a happy hour e-mailing his friends. ‘‘I reached station much before the departure time and was thinking how to spend time,’’ he said. ‘‘I would have never imagined that I would find a cyber cafe‚ in the station premises with good downloading speed.’’

Elsewhwere in the country
THE Indian Railways will soon have similar cyber cafes in over 180 locations in the country. While the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) will service 68 locations, the rest will have Tata Indicom as their service provider. VSNL’s cyber cafe‚s have come up at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gorakhpur, Asansol and Jhansi over the past month, said VSNL Deputy General Manager (Corporate Communications) S Ravindran.

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/2886/chartij7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Source: Economic times

GENERAL Motors India’s new plant in Pune will be part of the auto major’s production hub for GM Daewoo Auto & Technology (GM-DAT) which already supplies a pool of products for the Indian market. According Nick Reilly, president, GM Asia Pacific, “India will be part of GM-DAT’s global manufacturing resource and the products could go anywhere.” That’s also why the new plant has a ramp up possibility of just short of 300,000 units.

Although the greenfield plant’s immediate focus will be on the domestic market with the mini car (namely Chevy Spark), it would also feed GMDAT’s larger production pool later. “We already have several places like East Europe and China and India will be part of that manufacturing resource,” Mr Reilly said.
The fit is fairly close given that GM DAT has already supplied two volume products for the Indian market-the Chevy Optra and Aveo-and is also the pool from where the Chevy Spark will be sourced.
“GM DAT has products suitable for India and it has technology knowhow that is a good fit for this market. So GM DAT will help GM India in bringing new products to this market like the Aveo and Optra,” Mr Reilly said.
“We will look at opportunities for new products and GM DAT products will be top likelihoods for this market. But we haven’t decided on which products will make it to India yet.”
Although tight-lipped about future products beyond the Spark, Mr Reilly did not rule out two debutantes that have just rolled out in Europe-the Chevy Captiva and Epica.
“Regarding the Epica and Captiva, we will see how the market develops and what products we need for the Chevrolet brand in India,” he said. “At the moment we are announcing our plans to get into the mini car segment.”

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1896288.cms

Utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra is expanding its base in Maharashtra through a new vehicle plant and an auto ancillary unit.

The company is expected to invest close to Rs 600 crore to set up these facilities near its existing manufacturing unit in Nashik. M&M is the fourth auto major to announce fresh capacity additions in Maharashtra in less than a month, after Tata-Fiat and General Motors.

Although senior M&M officials declined to comment on the development, sources said that a formal announcement is expected on Wednesday.

The company will also sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government. M&M's move is seen as a reaffirmation of the state government's intention to retain its position as one of the three auto clusters in the country.

States like Uttaranchal, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have been witnessing a slew of investments from automobile companies. Another global giant Volkswagen is also said to be heading to Maharashtra, after discussions with Punjab.

M&M has two plants in Maharashtra for making tractors, sports utility vehicles and an engine unit. It also has a three-wheeler manufacturing facility at Haridwar in Uttaranchal and a commercial vehicles division at Zaheerabad in Andhra Pradesh.

The company has been on the lookout for another manufacturing facility to house its upcoming multi-utility vehicle, Ingenio - likely to hit the roads in 2008. It has been in talks with the Tamil Nadu government and Karnataka for a manufacturing unit.

M&M is also keen to build its auto component division Mahindra Systems and Technologies as an independent component supplier. The auto ancillary unit will not only cater to the company's growing requirement, but also tap the booming export market.

The company has drawn plans to export auto components worth a $1 billion through its joint venture with US-based International Truck & Engine Corporation.

Looks like pune is the most happening city In india. Way to go.
Link:
http://in.news.yahoo.com/060802/48/66d9l.html

Article:
British Business Group set up to increase bilateral trade, woo investments
IT may sound cliche, but even the British have started accepting Pune's potential as a business rival to the Silicon Capital of India - Bangalore. ''Puneites have a lot to be proud of... Pune can be a real rival for Bangalore,'' British deputy high commissioner Vicki Treadell said.

The reason: Unlike Bangalore, Pune has IT, manufacturing and other sectors. ''This city has the potential to be not just the second city of Maharashtra, but a significant city of India,'' Treadell, who inaugurated the British Business Group in Pune on Tuesday night, said.

The intentions are also clear - from formally opening a trade office in the city in the next three months to visit by British delegations in automotive industry in September and January and an all-women's delegation in October - the British Business Group (BBG) will try and attract investment from the UK companies to Pune.

''This will be followed by a delegation focusing on the scope and chances of investment in the construction sector,'' BBG chairperson Vandana Saxena Poria said.

''This forum will work towards removing the obstacles and impediments that come on the way of movement of capital, goods and personnel. We will take up the issues at appropriate political levels and see that changes can be made for facilitating smooth transaction of businesses among the two countries,'' Treadell said.

Interestingly, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) from India are more to the UK. According to Treadell, about 60 per cent of the Indian investments in Europe is in the UK. Treadell further said the British companies are keenly looking at the Indian automotive sector, pharma industry and business process outsourcing (BPO).

However, Pune's infrastructure and bureaucratic red-tape came in for some criticism. ''While it takes a single day to renew visas in Mumbai the same takes two-three months in Pune,'' she said, but was quick to add: ''Pune has more open space and scope for developing its infrastructure.''

The forum will meet on the first Tuesdays of every month and will look at real penetration of business interest in Pune. There are 67 British companies in Pune and 115 with the UK links.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=101779&leftnm=8&subLeft=0&chkFlg=

Austria-based intelligent transportation systems (ITS) provider Efkon AG is going to set up centre for excellence in Pune for its global highway traffic management system by 2007.

Pushkar Kulkarni, CEO, Efkon Group India, told Business Standard that the centre would be involved in systems development, quality assurance, life cycle management (support system), testing of products for highway traffic management system and 24x7 service centre.

“The centre would entail an investment of Rs 15-25 crore. Spread over 10,000 square feet, it would employ 100 people for research and development by 2007,” said Kulkarni. Efkon AG has presence in India via a group of companies held cohesively under Efkon Group India.

Among them, ITS Clearing House and ITS Solutions Ltd are fully owned subsidiary whereas I-Pay Clearing Services is a joint venture with Efkon AG holding 74 per cent stake. Efkon Group India is also planning to merge ITS Clearing House and ITS Solutions (P) Ltd into a single entity, Efkon India, shortly.

With most highway projects coming towards completion, Efkon is gearing up to achieve Rs 100 crore within next few years, Kulkarni said.

“We recorded a turnover of Rs 30 crore in 2005. This year, we are expecting to grow at 40 per cent, and compound annual growth rate of 60 per cent over the next few years from 2007 onwards, as several highway projects is approaching completion,” he said.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=197139

24 roads get face-lift, long-term repairs after rain stops
Express News Service

Pune, August 16:: BRICKBATS from all sections, cutting across party lines, seemed to have worked, with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) undertaking repair work on the city’s worsening potholed roads. Due to the rain, the repairs were temporary in nature with murum and pieces of bricks. The PMC, however, failed to notice potholes in its own backyard — the stretch from Congress Bhavan to Dengale bridge.

The civic administration claimed to have repaired 24 roads on Wednesday. The civic officials said the roads repaired on Wednesday included Solapur Road, Nagar Road, Shivarkar Road, Kondhwa main road, Salunkhe Vihar Road, ITI Road, Aundh-Baner Road, Warje octroi post road, Ambedkar Road, Residency Club to Vidhanbhavan, Maldhakka Chowk to railway bridge, 7 Loves Chowk to Vahkar Mahamandal, Law College Road, Jedhe Chowk to Volga Chowk and Panand Road.

However, one of the worst-hit — the road from Balgandharva Rangmandir Chowk to Dengale Bridge — still remains dotted with crater-sized potholes on the stretch between Congress House and PMC building.

Although the road is in the vicinity of the PMC building, no repairs were carried out there. The road, which is always congested, as a major PMT bus terminus is located on it, remained chocked as usual and motorists continued to face hardship due to the potholes.

Development Engineer (Road) Madhav Latkar said that the road department had repaired the stretch. ‘‘Hard soil and brick pieces were filled in the potholes. However, with heavy rains they were washed away. Also, the commuters themselves remove these filling often thus showing bigger potholes,’’ he claimed.

Latkar added that the road department, which is situated in the PMC building, was aware about the condition of the road. ‘‘Immediate repairs will be taken on the road,’’ he assured.

The civic administration has been coming under fire from all quarters over bad road conditions over the last few days. On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and a Congress delegation led by Mohan Joshi had staged demonstrations in various parts of the city and submitted a memorandum to the civic body to take urgent repair works.

The Nationalist Congress Party too jumped into the fray on Wednesday and met Additional Municipal Commissioner Mohan Adtani to complain about the bad road conditions. ‘‘The demands of all the parties are same — to repair roads immediately. However, it has been raining continuously because of which there are problems in carrying out repairs,’’ Adtani said.

He added that currently the civic administration will repair all the works temporarily with murum and bricks. ‘‘We have a long-term repair programme but this can be implemented only after the rains stop,’’ he said.

Adtani assured that once it stopped raining, within seven days, a majority of the roads would be repaired.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/aug/17lupin.htm

Lupin proposes to set up a sector-specific special economic zone in Maharashtra to produce API and formulations with an initial investment of Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion).

The company is believed to have already put forward its proposal to the Maharashtra government seeking, allotment of land, sources told PTI in Mumbai.

Lupin has initially identified a 100 acre land in Nashik to set up the SEZ. However, if that does not fructify, the company would like to put up the facility on a 250 acre land in Lote Parshuram, near Pune.

Acknowledging the plan, sources at Lupin said the company would like to set up a manufacturing plant inside the SEZ and would not sell space to others.

"We propose to put up a manufacturing plant inside the SEZ, but, in no way, are we going to develop it for the use of others," a source said.

Lupin, a global leader in API and formulations, has plans to initially invest Rs 200 crore, which may go up to anywhere between Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) and Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion), sources said.

Setting up a manufacturing plant within the SEZ gives a company a lot of incentives.

while...another company to look out for..trying to go global...to become an MNC

Serum Institute picks 14 pc stake in UK drug firm

Express News Service

Pune, August 17: PUNE-BASED Serum Institute India Ltd, the largest manufacturer measles and DTP group of vaccines in the world, has picked up a 14 per cent stake in the UK-based Lipoxen PLC. Lipoxen has raised 2.6 million pounds from Serum Institute through a subscription agreement and associated warrant agreement.

Lipoxen — the biopharmaceutical company that specialises in development of differentiated biologicals, vaccines and oncology drugs — will use the funds to drive development of its pipeline of potential protein drugs and vaccines into clinical trials and appoint a leading biologic contract research organisation. It will allow Lipoxen to recruit additional laboratory staff.



For Serum Institute, the agreement will help the company to diversify into oncology and recombinant products different from the generic drugs available in the market.

‘‘We are excited about our strategic investment in Lipoxen and feel that their technology is a key component to our strategy to create high-value differentiated biologics and vaccines. Our investment and increased strategic collaboration was prompted by Serum’s desire to become a large contributor in the biopharmaceutical world and by the very positive preliminary scientific data,’’ chairman and managing director Cyrus Poonawalla said.

Lipoxen chief executive officer M Scott Maguire said their combination with Serum would be an ideal fit for their twin novel technologies in the field of vaccines and biologics. ‘‘The coupling of Serum’s vast manufacturing infrastructure in Pune with Lipoxen’s novel technologies make for a powerful partnership that positions our companies as key players in the world of vaccines and protein drugs,’’ he said.

Lipoxen will issue 1 crore ordinary shares to Serum Institute at a subscription rate of 26 pence per share. Pertaining to the warrant agreement, Serum Institute can subscribe to 2.7 million ordinary shares for a period of two years. It will also been given the right to appoint a non-executive director on the board of Lipoxen.

Shoddy road-makers escape without bruises

By Snehal Sonawane/TNN

Pune: In spite of citizens crying hoarse over the pathetic road conditions, only one road contractor from among the nearly 2,000 registered with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been de-registered for poor quality work in the last one year.
While N.R. Construction has been deregistered by the PMC, nine others have been penalised and issued “show-cause” notices after the roads they constructed were badly damaged within the “defect liability period”, according to PMC road department chief Shrinivas Bonala.
However, Bonala said the nine penalised contractors are being allowed to continue work on other roads, as per PMC norms.
The norms, under the 20-year-old ‘Contractor’s registration regulation’, state a lengthy procedure for “severe punishment”, which includes monetary penalisation, issuing of show-cause notices followed by downgrading of the contractor, stoppage of issuance of tender and finally de-registration.
Consequently, only a negligible number of contractors are actually given severe punishment for their shoddy work.
Kishore More, deputy commissioner (vigilance department), told TOI that a contractor cannot be withdrawn from other road works, but it is possible to stop issuing future contracts if he fails to reply to the notices.
“There is no foolproof system by which the PMC can prove that he has carried out substandard quality work on other roads too. For example, the road that he has constructed may be dug up for various purposes, like laying cables or drainage pipelines. In such a case, it’s not the contractor’s fault,” he said.
“Moreover, if the contractor is withdrawn from other projects, it takes at least three months to appoint another contractor, during which time work will be stalled.”
Another fact revealed by More is that a contractor can be blacklisted only if he has been found guilty of malpractice, such as bribery, corruption, fraud and substitution of tender.
“Blacklisting of contractor is a punishment for only such kind of offences. The most severe punishment for inefficiency and substandard quality of work is de-registration,” More said.

•

20-year-old regulation states penalised contractors can work on other roads


• Lengthy procedure deters severe punishment

One among 2,000 road contractors de-registered


Pune: The city roads are in a pathetic condition. However, very few among the nearly 2,000 road contractors were given severe punishment for the poor quality of their work in the last one year as the following details show:

CONTRACTORS DE-REGISTERED BY PMC

1) N.R. Construction
(two other cases ‘under process’)

CONTRACTORS ISSUED SHOW-CAUSE NOTICE

1) M/s Patil Construction:
Yerwada bridge to Sadhu Vaswani overbridge
2) W.S. and Ganesh Construction : North main road, Koregaon Park
3) Sandeep Associates:
Pune-Solapur road 4) Sunshine Pavings : Dhobarwadi to Empress garden road
5) Ashwin Constructions:
Bhandarkar road 6) A.R. Constructions: Alankar police chowky to Warje ward office
7) Thakar Constructions :
Kanhere road
8) Nandkumar Constructions:
Rajaram bridge
9) Pravin Patil Constructions:
Irawati Karve road

PMC tries all tricks on potholes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Wednesday launched an official drive to fill up the potholes on the city roads. It even dared to announce the names of the 22 roads on which the job was accomplished. An official statement, however, shows that each PMC team has experimented with various types of material including ‘murum,’ crushed stones and bricks to fill the potholes.
The potholes on the Nagar road, J.M. road and Satara road were filled using ‘emulsion and crushed stones’, the statement says.
On the Law college road, Baner road, Sus road, ITI road, Aundh-Baner road, Good Luck chowk on Fergusson college road, Warje octroi post chowk, Mundhwa-Dhaikar Vasti road and Shivarkar road the potholes were filled with murum.
Potholes on the Kondhwa main road and Salunke Vihar road were filled with ‘murum’ and crushed bricks, while the Ambedkar road, Residency club-council hall road, Barne road junction, and Maldhakka chowk to railway bridge were repaired with a mixture of various materials.
Meanwhile, the NCP’s newly-elected city unit chief Jaidev Gaikwad issued a letter to municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer demanding him to take a serious cognisance of the poor state of the roads. “If you fail to repair these roads within a week then the NCP will lodge an official complaint against you with the state government,” Gaikwad has warned.
Congress corporator Shiva Mantri too has issued a letter to Kareer bringing to his notice the administration’s failure in fulfilling the promise to repair the footpaths on Karve road.
It was tragic that despite repeated complaints no action was being taken to repair the footpaths and the open ducts which pose a serious threat to the people, Mantri wrote.

From GM to DaimlerChrysler, Tata Motors to Bajaj Auto... Pimpri-Chinchwad small and medium enterprises shed local image to grab global customers

Rajesh Menon

Pune, August 19: It is past 8 pm on Friday evening, but at Chinchwad industrial area, the machines have not stopped working. This cluster of buildings and tin sheds in the twin industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad are neither the poster boys nor the brand ambassadors of Indian manufacturing sector, but they are the backroom for the Tatas, Firodias, Bajajs and Kalyanis.

The recession is far behind them and today, these 4,000-odd small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are scripting the country’s success story with 50 per cent of their products going to world’s auto giants.

The business has never been so good for these companies and world’s largest car-maker General Motors’ decision to set up Rs 1,300-crore facility at Talegaon has just given them another global customer.

‘‘We are very happy... now I have two customers and it will widen my customer base,’’ says director of the Rs 15-crore Praditi Pressparts Pvt Ltd Deepak Karandikar. He currently supplies chassis to Tata Motors and Piaggio and has recently added Godrej as his latest customer.

From plastic and rubber products to seat metal, side boards, wheel caps, axles and chassis, these SMEs have been providing auto parts for the world giants.

‘‘We are ready to supply to any company and are already providing international products at world standards to large companies,’’ says Pimpri Chinchwad Small Industries Association president Pravin Mistry.

His optimism stems from the fact that they are growing at 30 per cent year-on-year on an annual turnover running into a few thousand crore rupees. And the new buzzword in this 200-hectare Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) estate is automation.

‘‘Over 25 per cent of the companies have quality certification and automation and in another two years, the entire industry will be automated,’’ says Mistry.

‘‘If we used lathe machines earlier, now we have CNC machines (computer-controlled machines) and instead of manual welding, it is all electrical now. It saves raw material and also reduces labour cost. Today, a press operator commands a salary of at least Rs 6,000 a month,’’ adds Sopanrao Bhor, secretary, Forum of Small-Scale Industries, Pimpri-Chinchwad.

The reason: With increasing competition, price pressure and demand to supply world-class products, the SMEs have taken to automation in a big way.

‘‘We have a lean advantage and with automation, the percentage of overhead drops. We operate on margins as low as 3-6 per cent; better technology help us achieve higher levels of business excellence,’’ adds Karandikar.

Something Bharat Forge CMD Baba Kalyani has been reiterating. ‘‘The global outsourcing for the automotive industry is $ 375 billion a year and if we can upgrade our products, it can attract contracts to the tune of $ 35-40 billion. But we need a quantum improvement in technology,’’ Kalyani has said.

With a first-of-its-kind forging centre and auto cluster already set up in this twin industrial township, the Indian auto component industry may find it easy to achieve its target of $ 40 billion by 2014, $ 25-billion by way of exports.

But there is one small hitch that they are still trying to overcome: Manpower shortage. ‘‘We need nearly 8,000-10,000 skilled and unskilled workers,’’ adds Mistry. And that is something automation cannot solve.

http://www.business-standard.com/general/storypage_test.php?&autono=102053

What started as a response to the tourists' disdain for the monotony of claustrophobic rooms in the so-called luxury hotels for which they have to fork out heavy attendant bills, is now the favourite flavour for Pune's real estate businesses.

The service apartment concept that made an appearance five years ago is now poised to become a 3,000-unit segment of the city's hospitality scene.

The city's rise as an IT destination as well as a major hub for management and engineering studies has seen a rise in its "floating population".

Those parents visiting the city for the purpose of admissions need rooms for a longer term - say a week or ten days - during which, they seek a decent accommodation, which doesn't cost a bomb.

If the accommodation has a kitchen, the logic behind service apartments gets stronger.

Says Hemant Naiknavare, director at Naiknavare Associates, who pioneered the concept in the city in 2001, "We have seen people staying in the apartments for four to eight days on an average. Those who come to the city to take up senior level jobs stay longer, but that is till they find a place of their choice."

Another typical category of service apartment users is families who visit the city for marriage purposes. They would need a couple of rooms in a hotel but prefer an apartment as they get a two bed room place for half the price of a star hotel.

The all round shortage of accommodation in Pune has triggered a huge interest among the real estate developers in the service apartments business.

Says Vithal Kamat whose Orchid Hotels manages Naiknavare's Seasons Apartments in Koregaon Park and Aundh, "A hotel would take close to three years to build, whereas service apartments can be built in less than two years. Also, compared to hotels, there is less regulatory pressure for these apartments."

It is estimated that Pune needs over 3,000 rooms for long-stay or service apartments on an immediate basis.

The city's big builders too would like to contribute to the city's accommodation needs. So, players such as Vascon Builders, Kumar Builders, City Developers, Panchshil Infrastructure, Sanas Builders, Naiknavare Builders, who started it all, as well as the Goel

Ganga Group are getting into it.

"There are only a few hundred apartments available in the city currently as against a requirement of 3,000 apartments on an immediate basis. By 2008-09 Pune would have created capacities of 2,000 rooms," said Lalit Kumar Jain, chairman and managing director (CMD), Kumar Builders.

CULTURE FEST: PLAYS, KAVI SAMMELANS, MUSICAL PROGRAMMES AND SPORTS, PROMISE TO ENTHRAL PUNEITES

Express News Service

Pune, August 21: A CULTURAL extravaganza that promises to leverage Pune’s artistic ethos — the 18th Pune Festival 2006 — will be held between September 1 and 5 and present a bouquet of the city’s sights and sounds.

The opening ceremony of the festival, to be presided over by Minister for Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni at the Ganesh Kala Krida Rangmanch will also be attended by Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, Members of Parliament and actors Shatrughan Sinha and Hema Malini and actor and social activist Shabana Azmi.



The inaugural ceremony will see a melange of performances, starting with actor Meenakshi Seshadri, who will perform the Ganesh Vandana. Other performances will include a vani by actor Varsha Usgaonkar and a show by Shiamak Davar and his troupe.

However, the highlight will be a performance by the Chinese National Acrobatic Team to commemorate the Sino-India Friendship Year. ‘‘By bringing these international artistes to Pune, we are trying to leverage Pune Festival and our city on the international map. This will also help us in terms of the Commonwealth Youth Games that will be held in Pune in 2008,’’ said Krishnakant Kudale, chief coordinator of the festival.

The Pune Festival Awards, given each year for accomplishments in various fields, will be presented to scriptwriter, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar, social worker Baba Adhav, veteran actor Sulochana and ace-shooter Samaresh Jung.The installation of the Ganesh idol or Ganesh Sthapana will be held at Hotel Saras, Nehru Stadium, on August 27 at 10.30 am.

Besides this, the five-day fest will see performances by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, a mushaira evening, a Kerala Mahotsav and competition between various Ganpati mandals for the best pandal decoration. This year also marks the return of vocalist Jagjit Singh, who will perform at the festival after several years.

Other programmes at the Festival include a Marathi Hasya Kavi Sammelan, Marathi and Gujarati plays and Naushad Ka Sangeet Safar, a musical programme in memory of the late composer Naushad, which will be organised by the Mohammad Rafi Arts Foundation.

The festival will organise the first-ever Pune Festival Golf Cup, to be held at the Poona Golf Club. The event will be managed by golfer Tiger Woods’ company, Tiger Sports Management.

Other events include the vintage car and motorcycle rally, a national dirt track race, a bullock-cart race and the Maharashtra State Inter District Athletics Championships.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=197925

Pune, August 22: THE agony of travelling over the city’s potholes seems to have reached the top rungs of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). At Tuesday’s General Body meeting, corporators hauled the civic administration over the coals over the state of roads in the city, sought Chief Minister Deshmukh’s intervention and even asked for a change in hands in the civic administration.

However, Mayor Rajni Tribhuvan who joined the chorus of people seeking better roads, stole the thunder by threatening to resign if the roads were not fixed in the next four days, before Ganeshotsav that starts on Sunday.

'‘Fixing the city’s roads is the responsibility of the civic administration and if it is not delivering then I do not have any right to head the civic body,’’ she said. Tribhuvan also announced at the General Body meeting that she would stop using her official vehicle from Monday unless the roads were done up.

Tribhuvan was supported by leader of the House Ramesh Bagve, City Congress Unit chief Abhay Chhajed and leader of the Opposition Anil Shirole. BJP corporators Vikas Mathkari and Ujjwal Keskar said the step was unnecessary since it was the civic administration’s failure.

Congress corporator Vandana Chavan wanted a delegation of corporators to request Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to intervene. ‘‘If the administration cannot fix the roads, we need to change it,’’ she said.

Other corporators asked for police cases to be filed against the officials and threatened to stop paying taxes. They were particularly upset that municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer had not called for a single meeting with the corporators over the bad roads.

Kareer, who is in Germany on an official tour, drew the Shiv Sena corporators’ ire. They arrived draped in black clothes and shouted slogans — Punekar khaddyat aani adhikari pardeshat (Puneites are in the doldrums while officials are abroad).

Former deputy mayor Mahadeo Babar drew the attention of the members to the uncratered roads in the Cantonment areas. He said although the same technique was used to repair roads in the PMC and the Pune Cantonment Board areas, the roads in the cantonment were much better.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1775643,0002.htm

Pune-based auto components manufacturer, Bharat Forge is setting up a special economic zone (SEZ) near Pune, on land spread across 5,000 acres at an estimated investment of around Rs 20,000-25,000 crore.

The SEZ is expected to have an employment-generating capacity of 60-to-70-thousand.

This SEZ would mainly cater to auto industry-based units.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) was formed between Bharat Forge and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), in which the latter will be a minority stake-holder, a top level government official told PTI.

Bharat Forge and the government of Maharashtra will sign an MoU for this project on Wednesday.

Smooth Paud-Mulshi road speaks against PMC

Pune: A drive to Mulshi dam via the Paud village road is enough evidence to expose the civic babus and political leaders who blame the rain for the sorry state of affairs of Pune’s roads.
The 33-km road linking Chandni chowk to Hindustan Construction Company’s (HCC) Lavasa township near Mulshi does not have a single pothole, the surface is smooth and the vehicle does not bounce even while crossing the Paud ghat section. And it is not a six-lane concrete road like the Pune-Mumbai expressway, nor is it part of any golden quadrilateral on which huge funds were spent. It is a simple tar road, which is only 12 metres in width.
The road has withstood heavier rainfall than what Pune city received. It passes through the ghat sections of Paud and the catchment areas around the largest dam (Mulshi) in Pune. Besides, there is a continuous movement of heavy vehicles between Chandani chowk and Pirangut industrial estate.
The road was constructed by HCC, Mumbai, in a span of 12 months after the state Public Works Department (PWD) awarded it the contract in June 2005.
HCC’s senior vice-president, S.K. Dharmadhikari, told TOI that the project cost only Rs 34 crore, at a per km rate of Rs 1.05 crore.
As against this, the PMC recently wasted Rs 22 crore on just re-surfacing 36 roads in the city, measuring 50 km. Although the per km cost is Rs 44 lakh, all these funds have gone down the drain.
Elaborating on how the HCC went about its job, Dharmadhikari said the company’s engineers first carried out a traffic survey. Later, the service lines were identified and shifted to ensure that the road is not dug up for repairs to them. The water-logging spots were ascertained and slopes and storm water drains were provided with chambers.
“We have designed the road as per the Indian Road Congress (IRC) norms. We have used standard material like earth, bitumen, steel and sand which is easily available in India,” Dharmadhikari said.
Speaking to TOI, L&T company’s former general manager (roads) Arvind Datar said, “Has it not rained in Mulshi or Dehu? Why the roads there do not have potholes there?”
Datar said it was unfortunate that the PMC, which had set an example for the industry by constructing a very good tar road — the Jangli Maharaj road — two decades ago, had forgotten the basics of constructing good tar roads.
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/5539/getimageft2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Courtesy : TOI

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/08/29/stories/2006082904340900.htm

Signs MoU with Maharashtra Govt; to produce 5-lakh vehicles annually

Mumbai , Aug 28

Bajaj Auto Ltd is setting up a Rs 2,000-crore greenfield project to manufacture three-wheelers and light four-wheelers at Chakan, near Pune in Maharashtra, marking its foray into the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment.

The company signed an MoU with the Maharashtra Government on Monday.

Mr V.K. Jairath, State Industries Secretary, and Mr Sanjiv Bajaj, Executive Director of Bajaj Auto, signed the MoU in the presence of the Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, and Mr Rahul Bajaj, Chairman of Bajaj Auto.

Chakan facility

Speaking to presspersons, Mr Rahul Bajaj said the Chakan facility would have a capacity to produce five-lakh vehicles annually.

It is expected to produce 1.5-lakh LCVs in the first year of operation, he said, adding that the new facility is scheduled to go on stream by 2009.

The plant, which is being set up over a 250-acre plot, will be employing about 1,000 people.

This is the sixth MoU concluded by the State Government with different companies for setting up auto-related projects, including two with Mahindra & Mahindra, one each with General Motors, Bharat Forge and MICO.

In addition, the Chakan plant will also turn out an upgraded version of its extant three-wheeler model.

Aurangabad plant

Mr Rahul Bajaj said the company, for the first time, was coming out with a prototype of a battery-run three-wheeler next month from the Aurangabad plant.

"The battery will be costing about Rs 70,000 and should be replaced once in three years," he said.

He, however, expressed his displeasure over the delay in granting of permission to the rolling out of the prototype by the State Government.

In yesterdays cnbc news report it was said that even Volkswagen was intrested in setting up their assembly plant near chakan. Great going MH.

Pune makeover: Rs 99 crore for city’s slum rehabilitation plan

6,000 flats for 40,000 people to come up at Hadapsar

Express News Service

pune, August 29: PUNE’S march towards a bigger and better city got enhanced after it became the first in the State to get funds for the third project under the Centre’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM).

The first tranchet of Rs 99 crore for the Rs 635 crore slum rehabilitation project was approved by the Centre on Monday. A fortnight ago, the civic body had got Rs 65 crore for the bus rapid transit system’s pilot project and earlier Rs 99 crore was given for its sewage treatment project.



Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer said the rehabilitation project would be implemented at Hadapsar. ‘‘Around 6,000 flats would be constructed as ground floor plus four storeys at three places. The beneficiaries would get a carpet area of 270 sq feet, two rooms, a kitchen and a balcony. The construction of the buildings would be completed in the next two years.’’

This project will benefit some 40,000 slum dwellers living in the river bed, hill slopes, hill tops and in areas where the roads are being widened who cannot be rehabilitated under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) since the schemes cannot be implemented in these areas.

While the Centre had earmarked Rs 80,000 per unit for the project, the PMC’s budget was as high as Rs 1.65 lakh. ‘‘Construction of the ground level houses was not feasible and we had to convince the steering committee about high rises for the rehabilitation, where the maintenance would be less,’’ says Kareer.

Under this project for the urban poor, the Centre will provide 50 per cent of the funds, the State would chip in with 20 per cent, the municipal corporation would raise 20 per cent and the beneficiary from the backward class would have to pay 10 per cent and the open category would pay 12 per cent.

The buildings would come up on 30 hectares earmarked for the economically weaker section in the Development Plan. The PMC has already acquired 15 hectares.

Meanwhile, a new project report will be made for the Centre after the general body increased the project cost from Rs 635 crore to Rs 1,900 crore. Metro rail plan
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has approached the PMC for preparing a detailed report for a metro rail in Pune. Managing Director E Sreedharan who was in the city recently has forwarded such a proposal after studying earlier reports, municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer said. ‘‘This is a positive sign for the metro rail project,’’ he added. The proposed metro will run for 30 km and the DMRC will charge Rs 5 lakh per km to make the report. Kareer said Mayor Rajani Tribhuvan had held meetings with the MLAs to take the metro project forward. Since, the metro would require multi-model transport and planning, tenders would be floated for appointment of an expert.

Work on the International Convention Centre in Pune is progressing as per schedule with full completion scheduled for early 2008. Discussing the project status with ProjectsToday, officials stated that the IT park and the trade towers, two crucial project components, have been completed, and work on the convention centre is under way.The convention centre, which will be known as SL Kirloskar Convention Centre, will be completed by end-2007, paving the way for full project completion by early 2008.
The Rs 400 crore project, for which the foundation stone was laid in January 2003, is being implemented by ICC Realty (India) Pvt. Ltd, an SPV promoted by the Mahratta Chambers of Commerce, Industries & Agriculture. The project is being developed and will be marketed by Malaysian developer, Li Fung, through its Indian subsidiary, O4U Realty India.

http://projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=12063&secid=80

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/09/06/stories/2006090601661900.htm

The project would be coming up at Kharadi, located on the eastern part of Pune.

Pune , Sept. 5

The Pune-based real estate developers, Gera Developments and Citigroup Property Investors have entered into a joint venture to develop a project in Pune, through the FDI route.

Talking to presspersons, Mr Kumar Gera, Managing Director, Gera Developments (P) Ltd, said the total value of the project would be close to $125 million (Rs 550 crore).

The project would be spread over two million square feet and would consist of 600 premium and high end apartments, country club and hotel. The project would consist primarily of three and four bedroom apartments and price range would be about Rs 40-50 lakh for an apartment of about 2,300 sq, ft area. The project would be coming up at Kharadi, located on the eastern part of Pune.

Commenting on the investment, Mr David Schaefer, Managing Director, Head of Asia Pacific, Citicorp Property Investors, said this was the fourth project in which it has invested.

The investments have gone into two IT parks, one in Noida and one in Whitefield, Bangalore that are spread over 1.5 millions square feet each and are under construction.

The third project is a programme of service apartments, which would begin by the end of the current calendar year.

He said the fourth project, the Gera project, would be launched by the end of the year. Mr Gera said the project which would be kick started by the end of the year would be completed within a timeframe of four years and would be carried out in a phases.

Volkswagen drives into Pune.

Great news for Pune, Making it the number 1 destination for Automobile industries beating Chennai/NCR.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/09/12/stories/2006091203970100.htm

^^^ Yup thats great news, and it looks like its the final decision taken by VW.

Environmental Township Pune, to be completed by 2016
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/4328/11qb3.jpg
Pune
Chris Lee Architects/ Kapil Gupta

This approved urban plan for a "green" township features buildings oriented to minimize sun exposure—and air conditioning bills. Half of the roofs will be equipped with solar panels. The township's 15,000 residents will be encouraged to walk in a pedestrian-friendly street layout, to cut down on carbon emissions and promote health.

Nurm: Rs 225 cr to PCMC, Rs 140 cr for PMC

Express News Service

Pune, September 28: PUNE’s tryst with the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JN-NURM) project continued with the Centre approving Rs 365.19 crore for its slum rehabilitation. While Pimpri-Chinchwad will get Rs 225.19 crore, Pune’s share will be Rs 140 crore.

Earlier, the Centre had approved Rs 99 crore under the first phase of slum rehabilitation project to be implemented at Hadapsar for constructing 6,000 houses. With the approval of the second phase of the project, Pune is the only city in the country where the slum rehabilitation project has been sanctioned.


These funds would be used for rehabilitating slums that are not covered by the State government’s Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). For instance, hutments in and along the river bed, in no development zones and in public places do not fall under the SRA.

Pune municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer who along with his Pimpri-Chinchwad counterpart Dilip Band made the presentation to the Central Steering Committee said in Pune the project will be implemented in around 16 acre at Lohegaon and 5 acre at Kothrud and around 7,000 houses will be constructed. In Pimpri-Chinchwad, around 11,000 houses will be constructed at Akurdi.

The houses will have a 25 sq mt carpet area that will include two rooms, a kitchen and a balcony. The total cost per house would be around Rs 2 lakh. Earlier, the steering committee had fixed the cost per house at Rs 80,000.

‘‘The cost per unit is high, but the beneficiaries will not have to spend on other services once they occupy the house. It will be inclusive of all amenities and services like electricity and community hall among others,’’ Kareer said.

‘‘In the next three years, Pimpri-Chinchwad will be free of the slums,’’ Band said. PCMC has submitted a total proposal of Rs 3,900 crore under the JN-NURM for various development projects to be carried out till 2012.

The Centre will fund 50 per cent of the project cost, while 20 per cent will come from the State and the local body will have to raise 20 per cent. Those belonging to scheduled caste/ scheduled tribe will have to bear 10 per cent of the cost, while those belonging to general category will have to pay 12 per cent.

‘‘We will be constructing the houses in monolithic structures. This will help in faster and better construction of the houses,’’ Kareer added.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders Ujjwal Keskar and Vikas Mathkari said the funds were yet to reach the civic body. They demanded that the funds under JN-NURM should be directly released to the urban local bodies, instead of routing it through the State governments.

Centre for Pune model
Impressed by Pune’s slum rehab projects, the Centre will soon formulate a guideline for urban poor housing under JN-NURM. The guideline that will follow Pune’s model will include specifications on the amenities to be provided to the beneficiaries, cost norms and cost-effective measures.

If construction takes place at the right pace, Pune will turn into a city of gardens soon


NOZIA SAYYED Times News Network

PUNE is all set to flourish in the lap of nature. PMC had claimed this year that there will be 100 gardens in the city soon. Out of 100, 67 gardens have been already completed and 36 are still under construction. What this effectively means is that more than 100 gardens will be seen shortly.

One garden that will be completed shortly is the butterfly park coming up at Sahkarnagar where people will find various types of butterflies from all over the world. A butterfly park that greets you saying ‘Welcome to the world of butterflies’, will definitely fascinate the citizens. The park has almost 25 varieties of butterflies at present, informs Rupesh Vispute, gardener of the park. In this park, information related to butterflies like the life cycle of the butterfly, their food and what plant they prefer to lay eggs on etc would be made available to the public.

The PL Deshpande garden, one of its kind, spread across 10 acres of land, which was inaugurated this year, is an apt example of Pune-Japan friendship. Benches and a small hut adds to the beauty of the garden. Japanese and Indian plants with three ponds and a small bridge in it, is the major attraction of this Okayama garden. There will also be a Nana-nani park in Model colony soon in front of the PMC commissioner’s house where the construction still has to begun. The much-awaited medicinal plant garden at Kondhwa, regular parks at Tingre Nagar, Bhusari Colony, Karve Nagar and Wanowrie are under construction.

Khaire informs that the total budget for the project is Rs 15 crore. He says, “In all, 1,25,000 people visited the Pune-Okayama Maitri Udyan, known as PL Deshpande garden since the beginning of this year. The response is amazing and all the new parks will definitely be the major attractions,” he assures. When asked about the progress, he asserts, “Whoever has a doubt can visit the parks personally.”
Surely, after checking out some of the gardens that are under construction, it does seem that Pune will be lovely and green very soon.

Runwal Radisson Hotel, Pune, designed by Architect Sanjay Purji
http://img436.imageshack.us/img436/3959/runwalradissonhotel1jpgot3.jpg

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Pune: The first ever ‘flower mall’ in the country — designed on the lines of the famous Aalsmeer flower market in Holland — will come up in Pune at the cost of Rs 32 crore. The Pune Municipal Corporation approved the plan of the market on Thursday and it has now gone to the district collectorate for clearance. The construction is expected to start within two months and the market is expected to be completed in a year.
The Times of India was the first to break the story about the flower mall in the city (Oct. 7, 2005).
Addressing a news conference here, B.J. Deshmukh, administrator, Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), said the flower mall would be built on more than hectare of land behind the APMC office in Gultekdi. “Once the mall starts functioning, we expect the turnover from flowers to go up to Rs 70 crore from the existing Rs 23 crore,” he said adding that there was an annual growth potential of about 25 per cent in the business.
The mall will have 350 shops, office of the market, bank counters, canteen, exhibition space, auditorium, two auction halls, two grading halls, unloading platform and 12 cold storages, he said. The third floor of the mall will be reserved for exporters. The mall will have both wholesale and retail trade.
Deshmukh said farmers can store their flowers in the cold storages if there was less demand and prices were low. Some fee will be charged for grading and packing facilities. He said the union directorate of marketing and inspection, under the ministry of agriculture, would give 30 per cent grant for the mall.
Deshmukh said there were about 50 hi-tech private export floriculture units near Pune, while over 1,000 farmers across the state owned small polyhouses of 5,000 to 10,000 sq.ft. area. They grow roses, carnations, gerbera, orchids and gladioli.
Deshmukh said the existing flower market in Gultekdi was actually a godown, where 170 traders have put up shops. “We have another 150 on the waiting list and after completion of the mall, all the shops will be shifted there.” Even without any facilities, the current flower market was growing at the rate of 25 per cent per year with the annual turnover at Rs 23 crore, he said.
The APMC was planning to impart pre- and post-harvest training to farmers and set up their co-operatives so that they can reap the benefits from this mall, he added.

250-bed, Rs 80-cr project modeled on UK, Australian hospitals to come up on Katraj-Dehu Road bypass by 2010

Express News Service

Pune, October 15: Pune will once again come on the global map, this time for its healthcare. Perhaps for the first time in the country, a super specialty hospital dedicated to women and children will be set up in the city.

The 250-bed, Rs 80-crore project is modeled on the lines of the London-based Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and Queen Charlotte’s Hospital for women and Sydney Westmead Children’s Hospital of Australia. The super specialty hospital will be set up in technical and medical collaboration with the UK-based healthcare consultants Health Systems Ltd.



The hospital will be set up by TAIN Constructions and it has already acquired 16acres along the Katraj-Dehu Road bypass. “There are a whole lot of women’s health issues which cannot be looked into at general hospitals. There has always been an acute need for a dedicated women’s centre that addresses all the medical requirements. What we are planning is getting all the services related to women and children’s issues under one roof,’’ Rajesh Balakrishnan, an in vitro fertilisation expert who will head the obstetric and gynaecology departments, told Newsline.

He said the hospital will be functional by 2010.
Health Systems clinical director and paediatrician Ricky Richardson said in a statement that the creation of the first super specialty and maternity hospital will improve the maternity services in the country. The centres of excellence will also be linked by worldwide e-health networks, he said.

The hospital will operate on two principles: Providing the best medical care and of making this care available to those who cannot afford it. “What will make this hospital different from the ones we currently have in the country will be the approach to delivering medical care. Apart from the unique and high standard of medical expertise and technology, hygiene levels will also be extremely high and consistent, not only across medical and non-medical departments, but also among th staff,’’’ paediatric surgeon B S Ratta, who will head the child services in the hospital, added.

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/1959/getimageyr3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The grade separator on the Pune-Mumbai highway will reduce traffic problems at Babasaheb Ambedkar chowk and Morwadi chowk.
Pimpri grade separator nearing completion

Pimpri: Construction of the much-awaited grade separator on the Pune-Mumbai highway at Pimpri would be completed by the month end.
The grade separator would solve the traffic problems on the busy highway, said Dilip Gawde, additional commissioner of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). People would realise its usefulness after they start using it, he said.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar chowk at Pimpri is a busy chowk. The municipal administration has decided to construct a grade separator there to solve the traffic problem, overruling the politicians who favoured a flyover. A flyover would have overshadowed the buildings along the road, including the PCMC building. Atur India bagged the contract for the separator.
Vehicles on the highway that do not want to halt at Morwadi chowk or Ambedkar chowk can pass through the grade separator without halting at these chowks for signals. This would reduce the travel time between Chinchwad and Kharalwadi.
A pedestrian bridge has been built across the grade separator.
Construction of the grade separator has been in the limelight for wrong reasons, too. A girl lost her life when her two-wheeler hit a protruding tin sheet some months ago. Closing of the Morwadi and Ambedkar chowks for traffic during the construction had inconvenienced the commuters. The construction was to be completed in April 2006 but got delayed due to various reasons.

SPECIFICATIONS
•Length: 565 m.

•Width: 21.4 m.

•Central divider: 1.2 m.

•Flower beds on both sides:
2.4 m. wide

•Pedestrian bridge width: 5 m.

Manoj More

Pune, October 17: After establishing itself as the premier auto hub of the country, the twin industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad is now gearing up to become the science centre. The Rs 100-crore project, Pimpri-Chinchwad Science Park, will come up on 20 acre along the Pune-Mumbai highway in Chinchwad.

“The PCMC will invest only 10 per cent of the amount, while rest will be raised from the Central government, State and private participation We have already received Rs 3.5 crore for the Centre as an initial grant,” municipal commissioner Dilip Band said.



The Science and Technology Park of the University of Pune that has designed the Pimpri-Chinchwad Science Park was finally approved on Tuesday morning.

Band said the final design would be prepared in the next fortnight and the construction work will begin within six months.

The PCMC general body meeting has already approved the project.

Band said though the science park would be constructed by the PCMC, the activities would be given on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. The science park will be educative, informative and also entertaining. “A planetarium, children’s science park, mono rail and the water park would be a major attractions,” he said.

“The park will have a digital dome like the Nehru Science Centre, an aquarium and an exhibition hall among others,” project coordinator R C Mohite said.

“We have seen and studied science parks in Hyderabad, London, Paris and Bremen. After borrowing from their designs and plans, we are trying to churn out one of the best Science Parks of the world,”’ Band added. Besides Band and Mohite, mayor Mangala Kadam and NCP leader Yogesh Behl attended the meeting.

Centre clears Rs 476 cr for Pune BRTS project

Express News Service

Pune, October 25: The Centre today approved Rs 476 crore for the first phase of developing the Bus Rapid Transit System on 12 Pune roads under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. The Pune Municipal Corporation has been asked to submit a fresh proposal for getting Rs 24 crore more to prepare a Detailed Project Report for the BRTS.

The approval for the project was given at a meeting of the steering committee of JNNURM held in Delhi on Wednesday. Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer, who attended the meeting, told Pune Newsline from Delhi that PMC has been asked to submit a fresh proposal for funds to prepare the DPR. Earlier, the Centre had approved Rs 65 crore for implementing the pilot project of the BRTS. Kareer said the PMC is yet to receive the money approved for the pilot project.



Kareer said the allocated Rs 476 crore would be used to develop BRTS on a road length of 55 kms spanning 12 corridors including the Shivane-Kharadi road along the Mula-Mutha rivers and Sinhagad road. The other roads on which the BRTS would be implemented include Vishrantwadi-Dhanori road, Alandi road, Baner road, Paud road and Karve Road.

The BRTS project aims at solving city’s traffic problems and strengthening the public transport. The civic administration had included the Rs 1,016.49 crore BRTS project as a part of its proposal for development of the city roads under the JNNURM as submitted to the Centre.

Of the Rs 1,016.49 crore, Rs 395.56 crore is to be spent on developing 34-km long high capacity bus transport routes, Rs 547.19 crore on developing dedicated bus lanes on other corridors, Rs 25.34 for development of terminals and parking lots and Rs 48.40 for incidental expenses and fees of project consultants.

The BRTS will comprise two continuous lanes dedicated to motor vehicles and buses, running in both the directions. While the bus lane will admeasure 3.3 metres, that of motor vehicles will be 6-7 metres and a footpath of 1.8-2.5 metres on both directions. The roads will also have cycle tracks. A separate service lane with a footpath, light poles and storm water drains will be provided.

On August 11, the Centre had approved Rs 65 crore under the JNNURM for pilot projects of BRTS that will span the Swargate-Hadapsar and Swargate-Katraj corridors. Work has already begun on Satara road corridor. Kareer said the PMC is yet to receive the money approved for the pilot project under the JNNURM.

Express News Service

Pune, October 27: Having earned the auto and IT hub of the country tag, Pune on Friday got another name: Knowledge City. When Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was apprised of the city’s educational infrastructure — four universities, 20 engineering colleges and over 5 lakh students — he immediately declared Pune as the `Knowledge City’ of the State.

Deshmukh said Pune is an ideal destination for investments in technology-driven sectors. “According to a recent RBI bulletin, Pune has attracted 20 per cent of the total industrial investment in the country, which is the highest.

It also reports the highest exports in the country — almost $2 billion,” he said at the two-day Hi-Tech Pune conference.



It was not just about investments, but Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation CEO Rajiv Jalota pointed out that a 2005 survey had also rated it as the “happiest city in India”. So, it is no wonder that MIDC has earmarked Rs 500 crore to promote biotech in the city.

“We expect Pune to attract investments in SEZs to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore within just five years, and this is likely to be the highest such investment attracted by a city in India,” Jalota said.

“Pune provides all the necessary incentives for companies to set up shop here,” University of Pune vice-chancellor Narendra Jadhav said.

On the IT front, Software Technology Parks director P Venugopal said Pune has 83 IT parks — the highest in the country — and it continues to invite IT investments at a scorching pace.

The conference also conferred lifetime achievement awards on Serum Institute head Cyrus Poonawalla, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research director-general Raghunath Mashelkar and former vice-chairman of TCS Fakir Chand Kohli for their contributions to healthcare, science and software respectively

Pune plans Rs 6,500 crore makeover to woo investors (http://business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=263385&subLeft=1&leftnm=3)

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.

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.

Credit Suisse returns to India after five years

MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 2: Swiss bank Credit Suisse, which is returning to India after five years, is launching a new outsourcing unit in Pune.

The Pune site would support the bank's businesses across 50 countries and would grow to support 1,500 staff in a new Credit Suisse-branded facility. It will become operational in January 2007. The company did not give its investment figures.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/15873.html

Express News Service

Pune, November 6: Showing its commitment to Pune and to meet the increasing demand for its vehicles, DaimlerChrysler India Ltd (DCIL) is planning to set up its own facility near Pune. “Our Pimpri facility is on a 22-acre rented premises. We would like to have our own facility in the future,” DCIL managing director and CEO Wilfried Aulbur said at the launch of the Mercedes Benz E-Class on Monday.

The reason: “Since we have had a long association with Pune, the new plant would also be set up somewhere near the city.” However, he said an official announcement would be made in the first quarter (January-March) of the next financial year.

The plant is likely to come up in one of the MIDC estates either at Ranjangaon, Chakan or Talegaon.

The other reason for setting up its own facility is to meet the increased demand for its vehicles. “The demand for the Mercedes Benz series of cars in the country is increasing and a new plant with enhanced capacity is an obvious step to cater to the Indian market,” director (Corporate & Finance) Suhas Kadlaskar said.

The company assembles the entry-level C-Class, the E-Class and S-Class Mercedes Benz cars at its Pimpri facility. In terms of volumes, the company registered a growth of 10 per cent across the C, E and S classes, while the company bagged Rs 540 crore worth of sale in 2005.

Till October, the company sold 769 C-Class, 703 E-Class and 188 S-Class cars with North India accounting for the largest volume of sale with 31 per cent, followed by Mumbai (28 pc), while Bangalore and Chennai account for 8 per cent. The company has presence in 27 cities through a network of 12 dealers. “We want to have a presence in 30 cities by this year-end through the existing dealer network,” Kadlaskar said.

The company also saw an increase in traction of components’ outsourcing. “In 2005, this business crossed 100 million euros. The year-on-year growth is 20 per cent and we expect it to rise. India is one of the biggest markets in this segment,” he added.

Express News Service

Pune, November 6: US-based Principal Financial Group, a leading global financial services organisation on Monday launched their new Indian transaction facility, Global Services Private Ltd in Cybercity Magarpatta.

With an investment of $ 6 million, the transaction processing facility will provide IT application development, express processing for retirement and investors services (RIS) business, efficient data entry of standardised claim forms, with the ability to add in non-standard claim forms and other forms used in health insurance and IT application development, Principal Financial Group chairman and CEO Barry Griswell said. At present all these things were outsourced to third party vendors in US and outside US.



The centre at Magarpatta, the first of its kind outside US, employs 230 people. “By December-end, we are looking forward to increase the headcount to 286 and by 2007-end we are expecting to employ at least 600 people,’’ Griswell said.

Senior VP, Human Resources, Jim De Vries said, “Pune offers a high quality of human capital, availability of quality infrastructure and facilities and close proximity to Mumbai, enhancing accessibility to other Indian and global cities and provides an excellent off shoring location.’’

“It is the only city where you can get quality manpower for IT and business process workers. The cost factor was also a consideration,’’ Griswell added. On the company’s policy of replacing a portion of US attrition with employees in Pune, Griswell said, “In the long run, 15 to 20 per cent of our workforce will be based outside US doing this work. In US, the attrition rate is 10 to 12 per cent. Since in India, the jobs are mainly at the entry-level, we do not expect too much attrition.’’

Principal Financial Group has formed JVs with Vijaya Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB) for JVs in asset management and financial planning. Apart from these two segments, the group along with PNB, Vijaya Bank and Berger Paints is into insurance advisory and life insurance products in India.

PCMC to go green, set up 100 more gardens

Express News Service

Pune, November 7: THE twin industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad is all set to outsmart other cities in the country on the green field. The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, which has set up 108 gardens, has decided to set up 100 more in the next three years.

PCMC garden superintendent Suresh Salunkhe said currently 50 gardens are being developed in various parts of the town and soon work on constructing 42 more would be taken up. “We hope to inaugurate 22 gardens in the next few months. The work on 42 gardens will also start soon as the procedure for acquiring land or clearing them of encroachments has been completed.”


Salunkhe said the PCMC has started using new techniques. “Earlier, we had developed gardens in a symmetrical way. Now, we are setting up gardens asymmetrically — they are being constructed without changing the topography of the area,” he said.

Salunkhe said a garden at Indrayani Nagar area in Bhosari is a prime example of construction without effecting much changes in the topography.

He said instead of felling trees for facilitating road widening, the garden department is transplanting them on open land in their possession. At Nigdi’s Durga Devi Tekdi hill that has Pimpri-Chinchwad’s biggest garden, the PCMC has planted nearly 10,000 trees.

“We are planning to have a 1-km ropeway project here,” PCMC executive engineer Praveen Tupe added.


http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=208641

Express News Service

Pune, November 10: After the Delhi Metro Rail Commission (DMRC) agreed to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) some months ago for developing a 30-km metro rail network in the Pune Metropolitan Region comprising Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, the civic administration has now sought approval from the Standing Committee for the proposal.

Municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer has tabled a proposal before the civic panel which says Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad need ‘‘integrated transport network’’ through a multi modal transport where the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), tram, bus and metro will be used.



The DMRC will charge Rs 2.10 crore for the detailed project report which will be shared by the PMC and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations. The PCMC has already agreed to chip in with its share.

The metro project had been gathering dust for several years. It gained momentum after Mayor Rajani Tribhuvan called a meeting of MLAs to address Pune’s transport problem in June where the metro was decided upon as a viable option. In September, Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar also meet MLAs and discussed how the metro rail would address Pune’s traffic woes. Following this, municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer had written to the DMRC asking it to prepare the DPR.

Rs 8,000-cr investments flow into city

Express News Service

Pune November 13: Pune's status as the preferred investment destination has got further impetus with over Rs 8,000-crore investment coming in through eight projects this year. The State in total has received Rs 33,415-crore investments for 34 projects.
“These projects represent several sectors and areas like Ranjangaon and Hinjewadi have benefited most from the inflow,” a State Ministry of Industries’ official said.



While the biggest investment has come from Hindustan Semiconductor — Rs 2,200 crore — the automobile industry will be pumping in the most. Bajaj Auto will invest Rs 2,000 crore in a greenfield project at Chakan, while General Motors will put in Rs 1,275 crore for its Talegaon facility. DaimlerChrysler is also ramping up its presence in the city by investing Rs 250 crore in a new unit.

Interestingly, the IT and ITeS sectors have not drawn as much interest from investors. While TCS has earmarked Rs 500 crore for its global software centre at Hinjewadi, Tech Mahindra is putting in Rs 100 crore for its ITeS venture. On the other hand, the hardware industry has attracted players like LG, which is putting Rs 535 crore to upgrade its facility at Ranjangaon for white goods manufacturing. Jabil Circuit India has also proposed an investment of Rs 252 crore at the same location, while Ballarpur Industries has set aside Rs 1,200 crore for its pulp and paper manufacturing facility at Indapur.

“These investments are only in mega projects and do not include money into SEZs. If they are to be considered, the total investment in Pune over the next few years could be well over Rs 30,000-40,000 crore. We estimate that several smaller investments in Pune’s startups could well take the figure up by another Rs 500-1,000 crore,” MIDC CEO Rajiv Jalota said.

Experts like P C Nambiar feel factors like the city’s proximity to other markets and connectivity to coastal areas have encouraged the investment.

Pune gets 1 million euro Italian design centre

Carraro Group sets up tech operations to design futuristic vehicles, employ 25 engineers by yr-end

Express News Service

Pune, November 14: After having established itself as the premiere auto and IT hub of the country, Pune is now inching its way to become the design centre of the global companies. Latest to join this bandwagon is Italian driveline systems major, 617 million-euro Carraro Group that has set up a 1 million-euro global design centre - Carraro Technologies India — at an IT park, Gigaspace, at Vimannagar here on Tuesday.

Carraro Group already has a presence in Pune when it opened Turbo Gears India Ltd 11 months ago at Ranjangaon near Pune and invested Rs 110 crore in the plant.



“Carraro Technologies India will focus on futuristic products for the global market and design futuristic vehicles for tractors and earth moving equipment. The centre will work on design of transmission systems to entire vehicle engineering,” group chairman Mario Carraro said. The company will employ 25 engineers by this year-end and ramp up to 75 engineers soon. The group has three design centres in Italy, one in Germany and one in Argentina.

Carraro said the group was moving a huge amount of transmission products to India and therefore, the centre would be of great significance. He said the commercial production of industrial transmissions would begin from the fourth quarter of 2007 at Ranjangaon.

“The total capacity is for 35,000 transmissions by 2009. As a first step, we will begin with 20,000 transmissions,” vice-president (Engineering) Mario Tecchio said.

The group has a small presence in hybrid technology in light commercial vehicle and highway transmissions, but as part of their mid-term strategy the company would like power electronics to become part of the Indian product portfolio.

“We will do something in India from the engineering point of view. Carraro has over 100 hybrid buses running in Italy,” Carraro said.

Besides the investments made by the company over the past one year, the group has invested Rs120 crore to buy out the 49 per cent Escorts stake in Carraro India. The company will also invest Rs 80 crore to expand new product lines that are being relocated from other global manufacturing facilities to India.

Although India accounts for only 3.9 per cent of the total sales, Mario Carraro felt there was huge potential for growth in the agricultural and construction equipment sector. Carraro India and Turbo Gears together will reach sales of about Rs 266 crore by the end of 2006. By 2009, this should reach Rs 570 crore employing over 850 people.

BRTS is the start, metro, sky bus, tram to follow

Termed utopian till recently, the projects now look good, attract parentage claims, says Kalmadi

Express News Service

Pune, November 14: The city, for long denied of a decent public transport system to call its own, seems set to be inundated by not one but four alternative options. Suresh Kalmadi, MP, said just as the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) was beginning to roll, the metro rail as also the sky bus and a tram network were pretty much in the reckoning to spruce up Pune’s transportation needs, which needed an integrated approach.

Talking to Pune Newsline from France, Kalmadi said all these projects were termed as utopian by many when he proposed them not too long ago, but now that some of these were close to execution stage, many claimants to parentage had popped up.



“You must give credit where it is due. Just as you pass on the blame for the bad roads to me, all the four transportation solutions are also my babies. I have been pushing for the metro with the central government for a couple of years now. Suddenly, it cannot become somebody else’s project. Ajit Pawar should ensure that State-level clearances come through with a minimum fuss and leave the central clearances to me,” Kalmadi said.

He was referring to the statements made by district guardian minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar here on Monday when he appealed that no political party should oppose the metro project.

Kalmadi said nobody had any confusion all these years as to who had been pushing for the metro, the sky bus and the trams as much for the BRTS under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Nurturing these projects — with long gestation periods — had proved to be a painstaking process and he had to face much criticism in the last few years for chasing dreams, he said.

Now that the projects that he had envisaged as solutions for the traffic logjam plaguing the city were close to fruition, there seemed many who were keen to be seen as the messiahs of modern transportation. This was happening, as civic elections were only a couple of months away, he added.

A few central clearances, pending for long, were through in the case of the sky bus project which would come up before the State

administration for discussions later this week, Kalmadi said. Similarly, the tram project would make headway in December as engineers from Bremen, Germany, were expected to submit a report, he added.

Pune design capital of India?

With 570 million sq ft of construction activity underway, yes, say experts

Express News Service

Pune, November 17: Pune’s reputation as a preferred business destination has now made it a much-sought after hub for design as well. With over 570 million square feet of construction activity underway across the city, Pune’s design industry is valued at Rs 9,000 crore,:dunno: according to a recent survey conducted by ICICI Bank and Ishanya mall.

Speaking at the Pune Design Festival organised by the Pune Design Foundation on Friday, I S Narula, president and CEO of Ishanya — it is the only design mall in the country — said: “With the boom in construction activity in different parts of the city and a thriving industrial and service sector, the design industry has had a natural impetus to grow.” To give an added boost to this growing sector, Ishanya will also house a separate training wing which will conduct specialised training programmes for architects, craftsmen and consumers on different aspects of design.



Given the boom in design activity in the city, Stuart Constantin, head of Core 77, a website devoted to design said: “It is encouraging that the quality of the design industry and services provided in Pune are at par with developed countries like US. The culture of innovation present in the city is likely to make it a huge hub for outsourcing such activity in the future.”

According to Dileep Chhabria, director of DC Design: “We have an opportunity in India if we are able to provide the kind of cutting edge designs that people aspire for these days.”

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=210001

Volkswagen to set up facility in Maharashtra
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/11/19/stories/2006111904230100.htm
Rs 1,350-cr manufacturing unit to come up near Pune
Mumbai , Nov. 18

It is now official. German carmaker Volkswagen has finally chosen Maharashtra for setting up a $300-million (Rs 1,350-crore) green field automobile manufacturing facility. The plant, which will come up on a sprawling 500-acre site at Chakan, near Pune, is expected to create employment opportunities for about 2,500 people.

On Friday, the company's board gave its approval for setting up the plant in Maharashtra. As per the plan, production of small passenger cars will commence by the second half of 2009.

The carmaker has been planning to set up a manufacturing facility in India since long, having considered other States, prominently Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab, to locate the plant. This is seen as a significant development for Maharashtra, as the proposed unit would spawn spin-off benefits for the State, said a State Government official.

MoU by month-end: A statement on the Volkswagen Web site said: "India is one of the fastest growing automotive markets worldwide, but high import duties on vehicles mean that any meaningful market presence can only be achieved by establishing domestic production facilities. Volkswagen examined a number of locations in India in detail and chose the Pune region because of its economic environment, good logistics links and sufficiently strongly established supplier structure. The region also offers qualified employees who will ensure that production meets appropriate quality standards."

Mr V.K. Jairath, Maharashtra Industries Secretary, told Business Line that an MoU with the company would be signed by the end of this month.

The land for the project has been identified and the process of clearance from the MIDC and State Pollution Control Board will start after signing of the MoU.

He said proximity to ports and the availability of skilled workforce worked in favour of Chakan as the suitable location for the new plant. In the last one year, the State Government has singed MoUs for eight major automobile projects, he said. The Government has given `mega project' status for the Volkswagen project, which will be the German company's first manufacturing facility in the country.

The Volkswagen Group, based in Wolfsburg, Germany, has a major footprint in Western Europe's automobile market. The Group's passenger car business is split into two brand groups. Under the umbrella of the Group, Audi and Volkswagen manage their separate brand groups and are responsible for generating global earnings from them.

The Volkswagen Group operates 45 manufacturing facilities in 11 countries in Europe and seven countries in America, Asia and Africa. A workforce of over 336,000 people all around the globe produces over 21,500 vehicles per working day, as well as providing vehicle-related services. The Group's models are sold in more than 150 countries.

Other projects: In August 2006, Bajaj Auto Ltd signed an MoU with the Government of Maharashtra for setting up a Rs 2,000-crore two-wheeler and three-wheeler manufacturing facility at Chakan.

Earlier, General Motors also announced that it would be setting up a Rs 1,300-crore second plant Talegaon industrial estate in Maharashtra.

The State Government had also signed an MoU with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd in June 2005, for setting up a Rs 550-crore facility jointly with French company Renault for making cars.

Pune to get French toast: Competitive auto cluster

Deepa Venkatraman

Pune, November 19: Pune’s prowess as being the auto hub of the country will get another boost when under the Indo-French Programme of Cooperation an automobile cluster will come up here in a year’s time. The cluster will be modelled on ‘Poles De Compititive Vite’ or a competitive cluster where in a collaborative research programme will be funded by industries and local bodies that are operating successfully in France for a year.

“This kind of cluster does not exist in India and we plan to start the project for an automobile cluster based in Pune in a year’s time,” director-general of Science and Technology Park Rajendra Jagdale said.



The reason behind choosing Pune for setting up this automobile cluster is that in addition to having a strong auto industries base, it also has educational institutes that can cater to the research programme.
“The highlight of the project is that we will tie-up with educational institutions in that particular area. The Indian education programme does not necessarily cater to the needs of the industry. They don’t create a product that can easily be absorbed. We are planning to rope in various engineering colleges across the city, so that we get the right human resources,” he said.

As for the funding, besides the industries and the local bodies, funds will also come from the State and the Central governments. “Industries operating from this cluster will also be provided with tax incentives and duty exemptions. But the modalities are yet to be worked out,” Jagdale said.

In fact, only last year Mahindras had set up a Rs 700-crore joint venture with Renault to manufacture Logan cars from its Nashik plant.

The Indo-French Programme of Cooperation’s aim is to set up clusters that will produce globally competitive products. The other clusters being planned include water technology, nano pharma technology, IT, perfume, fashion and fabric. “We want to institutionalise and create an Indo-French Water Technology Institute and it may come up either in Pune, Hyderabad or Delhi,” Jagdale said.

The Science and Technology Park has already signed a cooperation agreement with Sophia Antipolis Foundation to set up innovation and techno parks. “Regular knowledge programmes on business incubation, venture finance, competitive cluster, energy and environment will be conducted in both the parks. A committee has been formed that will meet every year to discuss the ongoing and future activities,” Jagdale added.

The Central government’s Science and Technology Department and French ministry of external affairs, research and education support the Indo-French Programme of Cooperation.


http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=210123

DMRC to prepare report for metro

Express News Service

Pune, November 21: The Pune Municipal Corporation's Standing Committee unanimously approved the proposal of allowing the Delhi Metro Rail Commission (DMRC) to prepare a detailed project report for the metro. The total cost of preparing the DPR would be Rs 2.1 crore and the amount would be shared by Municipal Corporations of both Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

The PMC would have to chip in Rs 1.35 crore and the PCMC would have to provide Rs 65 lakhs. The DMRC would prepare the DPR for a 30 km network. The PCMC has already given its approval for preparing the DPR.

PMC conducts BRTS trial run

Express News Service

Pune, November 28: Three days after first lot of five Volvo buses for Pune Municipal Corporation’s Rs 65 crore Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) pilot project arrived in the city, the Pune Municipal Transport on Tuesday carried out a trial run on one stretch of the Pune-Satara corridor.

Another 15 buses are expected by December-end, which is the deadline for beginning regular BRTS service on the 5.9-km Swargate-Katraj stretch on the Pune-Satara Road.



The trial run on the 2.5-km BRTS corridor between Hotel Panchami and Dhankawadi was far from smooth as a group of vendors who were evicted from the dedicated corridor to facilitate the BRTS work stopped the bus near City Pride theatre for nearly half an hour.

They threatened to smash up the bus and the matter was resolved only after local corporator and city Congress unit president Abhay Chhajed intervened.

Speculations were rife throughout the day that the BRTS pilot would be inaugurated on Wednesday. According to some PMT officials and Congress leaders, Union Minister Jaipal Reddy was scheduled to inaugurate the BRTS pilot on Wednesday. The function had to be called off as Reddy was unable to leave Delhi.

The Volvo buses have Euro 3 engine fitted in the rear, air suspension and kneeling mechanism and can be tilted to allow wheelchairs to be rolled in. They also have electronic control unit engine, dash board display and grab rails for convenience of standing passengers. The seating capacity is 44, while 19 more passengers can travel standing.

Rs 160 cr for city projects

Express News Service

Pune, November 29: The Central Steering Committee of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) on Tuesday approved funds of Rs 160.36 crore for Pune Municipal Corporation?s projects for slum rehabilitation, constructions of night shelters for people coming to Pune in search of jobs and rehabilitation of hawkers.

Speaking to the reporters here on Wednesday, Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer said Rs 111.36 crore was approved for slum rehabilitation, Rs 21 crore for construction of night shelters and Rs 28 crore for rehabilitation of street vendors.



This brings the funds approved for PMC under the JNNURM to Rs 1,260 crore. Of this, Rs 820 crore is meant for non-housing projects and accounts for 12 per cent of the money approved for this sector under JNNURM across the country, Kareer said.

However, of the total approved amount, Rs 62 crore has been disbursed so far to the PMC.

Kareer said the Rs 111.36 crore funds approved for slum rehabilitation would be used for construction of 4,368 houses for slum dwellers in Kondhwa and Kothrud areas. Earlier, JNNURM funds of Rs 250 crore had been approved for construction of 12,160 houses for slum dwellers in Hadapsar, Yerawada and Hingane areas. Kareer said every house built under the JNNURM funded schemes would cost around Rs 2 lakh and the slum dwellers would be required to pay Rs 12,000 as their share.

According to Kareer, the civic administration plans to construct night shelters for people migrating to Pune in search of jobs in Yerawada, Hadapsar, Baner and Katraj areas. The shelters would accommodate around 6,500 people. While the JNNURM money would be spent for construction of night shelters, the recurring expenses of paying water and power bills as well as upkeep cost of the shelters would be raised by charging money from the people using them. People coming to Pune in search of jobs would be able to live in these night shelters for a maximum period of six months.

To rehabilitate street vendors, the PMC would construct complexes where parking space would be provided in sub-basements and stalls would be located on the ground floor. The stall owners would be provided water and toilet facilities. Office space for the stall owner?s union would also be provided.

Kareer said top priority would be given to rehabilitate authorised hawkers; this will be followed by rehabilitation of unauthorised hawkers. According to the PMC, there are about 8,000 authorised and 2,000 unauthorised hawkers in the city.

Rs 160 cr for city projects

Express News Service

Pune, November 29: The Central Steering Committee of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) on Tuesday approved funds of Rs 160.36 crore for Pune Municipal Corporation?s projects for slum rehabilitation, constructions of night shelters for people coming to Pune in search of jobs and rehabilitation of hawkers.

Speaking to the reporters here on Wednesday, Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer said Rs 111.36 crore was approved for slum rehabilitation, Rs 21 crore for construction of night shelters and Rs 28 crore for rehabilitation of street vendors.



This brings the funds approved for PMC under the JNNURM to Rs 1,260 crore. Of this, Rs 820 crore is meant for non-housing projects and accounts for 12 per cent of the money approved for this sector under JNNURM across the country, Kareer said.

However, of the total approved amount, Rs 62 crore has been disbursed so far to the PMC.

Kareer said the Rs 111.36 crore funds approved for slum rehabilitation would be used for construction of 4,368 houses for slum dwellers in Kondhwa and Kothrud areas. Earlier, JNNURM funds of Rs 250 crore had been approved for construction of 12,160 houses for slum dwellers in Hadapsar, Yerawada and Hingane areas. Kareer said every house built under the JNNURM funded schemes would cost around Rs 2 lakh and the slum dwellers would be required to pay Rs 12,000 as their share.

According to Kareer, the civic administration plans to construct night shelters for people migrating to Pune in search of jobs in Yerawada, Hadapsar, Baner and Katraj areas. The shelters would accommodate around 6,500 people. While the JNNURM money would be spent for construction of night shelters, the recurring expenses of paying water and power bills as well as upkeep cost of the shelters would be raised by charging money from the people using them. People coming to Pune in search of jobs would be able to live in these night shelters for a maximum period of six months.

To rehabilitate street vendors, the PMC would construct complexes where parking space would be provided in sub-basements and stalls would be located on the ground floor. The stall owners would be provided water and toilet facilities. Office space for the stall owner?s union would also be provided.

Kareer said top priority would be given to rehabilitate authorised hawkers; this will be followed by rehabilitation of unauthorised hawkers. According to the PMC, there are about 8,000 authorised and 2,000 unauthorised hawkers in the city.

good idea,this type of hawkers market has worked well in S E Asia where new many bdgs have had to incorporate into their spec, a hawkers mkt on the ground floor.And if the building has caused the relocation of shops then they have to be given floor space in the bdg on the first 2 floors.
Mixed use projects of this type would work very well in India.

Neuman & Esser to make Pune hub

Express News Service

Pune, Deceber 1: German compressor manufacturer Neuman & Esser Group will make India its global hub for engineering design. “The global engineering centre in Pune will initially support markets in India and Asia.

The centre will develop packaged engineering 3D and CAD designs for compressor plants and grinding systems. We chose to come to India to tap the available engineering expertise. If this works, this centre will also cater to other markets,” said Stefanie Peters, managing partner, Neuman & Esser Group.



The 160-million euro group has been selling compressor plants to oil and gas companies, refineries and petrochemical companies in India. “Once we reached a critical mass in India, we decided to set up base in Pune in 2002. The strategy was to get closer to the customer,” said Peters. India is a 100 million-euro growing market and this was an opportunity to get a foot into the door, she added.

The group set up Neuman & Esser (I) Pvt Ltd in 2002 for sales, engineering and services and followed this by the establishment of the Neuman & Esser Compressor Application Centre in India. The new global engineering centre will be part of the compressor application centre. The group has invested over one million euros in India.

The parent company will supply the actual compressors and source the other equipment and accessories from India. Peters said the company was currently sourcing 50 per cent of the whole value of the product.

The company has over 88 running machines in India that have been sold to companies like Reliance Petrochemicals, Indian Oil Company Limited, Tisco, Bharat Petroleum and Mangalore Refineries.

Peters said the engineering centre in Pune would employ 20 people by next year and the sales force be ramped up to 40 people.

Finally, BRTS pilot rolls on

Express News Service

Pune, December 3: With civic elections round the corner, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Sunday hastily inaugurated the incomplete Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) pilot project on Katraj-Swargate corridor. The Rs 62-crore project under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) envisages nearly 13-km of dedicated bus lane on the Pune-Satara Road.
However, except for the 2.7-km stretch from Dhankwadi to Hotel Panchami junction, work is still going on to create a dedicated lane for BRTS. The entire work for the pilot project is expected to complete only by this month-end.



The Pune Municipal Transport is also planning to start the operations of five Volvo buses on the incomplete 6.6-km Katraj-Swargate corridor. “The BRTS buses will proceed on dedicated bus lanes where they are ready and at places where the work is still going on, they will move along with other vehicles. The BRTS buses will run at a frequency of 10 minutes,” a senior PMT official said.

Union Minister for Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy, who inaugurated the pilot project, also promised an additional Rs 500 crore for adding more routes. “Pune has already received a sanction of Rs 1,260 crore under the JNNURM for various projects including 50-km BRTS routes. We will approve additional Rs 500 crore for more routes to add another 50-km stretch,” he said.

But Reddy made it clear that the Centre would not provide funds for purchasing buses for the BRTS project. “It is the role of the State government and not the Centre to fund infrastructure development projects,” he said.

He also assured that the Centre would help Pune project itself as a global city and provide all assistance for staging the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2008.

Meanwhile, the inaugural function saw all the political parties except the Congress boycotting it with NCP’s PMT committee member Prashant Jagtap alleging the members were kept in the dark about the function. He said the PMT infrastructure had to be strengthened before inaugurating the project. In fact, work on the Swargate-Hadapsar 8-km BRTS corridor is yet to begin in full swing.

Earlier, Reddy also inaugurated the Rs 280-crore river improvement programme under the JNNURM at the Kasba Peth ward office. The project is aimed at giving a complete facelift to the Mutha from Mhatre Bridge to Sangam Bridge.

^^


A photo from TOI

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/7138/brtsbuspuneuo5.jpg

From the bus to tickets, BRT’s first run finds many fans

Express News Service

Pune, December 4: A day after the Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy flagged off the Bus Rapid Transit System (BTRS) on Pune-Satara Road, the Pune Municipal Transport started operations of its Volvo buses on Katraj-Swargate corridor.

And Puneites did not let down the PMT as they thronged the new air conditioned buses.



Curiosity about the new transport system drew people out of their houses even during the afternoon. From young students to senior citizens and working men to housewives, several took out time to board the BRT bus. Even during the lean afternoon hours, when ordinary PMT buses were running empty, the BRT buses were full.

Senior citizen Sarita Bhat, gave her afternoon nap a miss and boarded the BRT bus at Swargate. However, she did not find it as comfortable as she thought they would be after reading newspaper reports. “The seating arrangement of the new bus is not as comfortable as I thought.’’

But Bhat was an isolated case. By and large, the commuters were happy. “This is a fantastic experience. I just hope the PMT starts such buses too,” exclaimed student Manjusha Ughade as the music system in the bus blared Kabhi Alvida Na Kahna.

But there were a few who were apprehensive. “The buses are fine. But, the PMT should ensure that they remain in such condition. Security guards should be deployed on board at night to take action against vandals,’’ said M N Galande.

Besides the A/C and music system, they were also impressed with the comfort of the bus, which seats 32 and has enough place for standing passengers. But what drew wide-spread appreciation was the conductor announcing the bus stop on a microphone. “This is very convenient, especially for new comers in the city who always fear getting lost,’’ said Renuka Swami.

The commuters were also fascinated with the tickets, which were dispensed by an electronic machine and phone booths at bus shelters.

However, there were a few initial hiccups. “Major problem is traffic snarls due to ongoing work. We wanted to keep bus frequency at 10 minutes but took more time to travel the distance because of traffic congestion. But, the response from the people was encouraging. Some 50 passengers were on board the bus in the first trip, although it was at an early morning hour. From tomorrow, we plan to ply BRT buses from 7.30 am till 8 pm,’’ said S G Rane, Manager (Traffic and Administration).


[/B]

Source: Economic times.

ZAPAK, an online gaming portal of the Reliance ADA Group, plans to set up a gaming development centre in Pune in the next three to four months. The company is talking to international game developers to enter into a joint venture for setting up the centre. The centre, with an initial headcount of 30 to 50 employees, would develop Zapak’s local massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) in the next 18 to 20 months.
“We are looking at bringing out local MMOGs in the second phase and this centre is a part of the backward integration,” Zapak Digital Entertainment chief operating officer Rohit Sharma told ET. In its second phase, the company would create more community-based features and marketing touch points like gaming cafes.
“We will target class A and class B cities early next year and touch 10 to 15 locations,” says Mr Sharma. The company would initially start its own gaming cafes and later move on to a franchisee model. Almost 90% of the content for its gaming portal comes from China, Korea, the US and Israel, while the rest comes from 10 studios within India. The company plans to have four to five million customers over the next few months and make the portal a subscription service going forward. It was launched in November this year with an investment plan of around $100 million over three years.
These funds would be utilised in the technology, content and marketing of this portal. Currently, the portal has advertising as its revenue stream. Later, it would explore other revenue models with the development of MMOGs. Zapak currently has 90 employees and would take this number up to 200 by March 2007. The portal has 150 casual games and would look to double this by the year-end. The games are currently free and across genres like action, racing, puzzles and sports.
The market size of gaming in India is expected to touch $200 million by 2010, said Mr Sharma. The company is keen on online gaming segment and has no plans to enter mobile gaming.

2 flyovers to be inaugurated on Tuesday

Express News Service

Pune, December 7: THE flyovers at Agriculture College chowk and E-Square on Ganeshkhind Road under the Integrated Road Development Project (IRDP) of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) would be inaugurated on December 12 by Energy Minister Dilip Walse Patil and Water Resource Minister Ajit Pawar.

A press communiqué issued by MSRDC chairman and Public Works Department Minister Anil Deshmukh said that the two flyovers on Ganeshkhind Road would be formally inaugurated on December 12. The Rs 4.85 crore flyover at E-Square is 346-metre long, 8.5-metre wide and 4.5-metre high. It is two-laned and is open to traffic towards Shivajinagar. The Rs 8.3-crore Agriculture College chowk flyover is 16.4 metre wide and 347-metre long with six blocks of 35.5 metre width. This flyover is four-laned with two-way traffic.



The E-Square flyover has been thrown open to traffic by the MSRDC. An additional flyover at E-square has been constructed to decongest the Senapati Bapat Road. The flyover at University chowk has been delayed due to shifting of utilities. The flyover is estimated to get ready by May 2007.

A year after flights to Dubai and Singapore took off from the Lohegaon airport, the city’s dream of turning into an international destination seems to have hit an air pocket. With no private airlines coming forward to start new flights — mainly due to commercial considerations — even the government run Air India and Indian have ruled out flights to newer destinations in the near future.

While lack of commercial interest is a reason, restrictions on the number of civilian flights by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and paucity of infrastructure at the airport are major factors for airlines staying away from the city. “The airport has reached the saturation level for day time operations with the Air Force not giving permissions for new flights due to their operational requirements. A blanket ban has been put in place for day operations and the only slots left free are from midnight onwards,” an airport official said.



There had been talks of starting operations to Europe and America when the first international flight took off last year on December 12, but the limited runway at Lohegaon (8,300 feet) has proved to be a damper. “The length of the runway at Pune is too short for landing heavier aircraft needed for direct operations to Europe and America that require planes to fly for over 8 hours. The runway has to be strengthened as well as extended before flights to these destinations can take off,” MCCIA civil aviation committee chairperson S K Jain said. The two airlines that have been cleared by the DGCA for international operations from the city — Lufthansa and Sri Lankan Airlines — are also in no hurry to start flights. “We have got permission but have not planned out any flight from Pune yet,” Dimuthu Tennakoon, Manager, Maharashtra & Gujarat, Sri Lankan Airlines said. He insisted that ‘commercial issues’ and not lack of infrastructure at Lohegaon are the reasons for not introducing new flights.

While Lufthansa officials were not available for comment, the European airline has also not made any move to seek a time slot for starting operations from Pune.

Though the Dubai and Singapore flights are doing fairly well — largely due to connectivity from Mumbai and Hyderabad respectively — both Air India and Indian also have no immediate plans of starting new international operations.

“We have operated 101 flights in each direction since starting operations to Singapore and the passenger load shows a positive trend. But, as of now there are no plans for new international destinations,” K Bharathi, Deputy General Manager (Public Relations), Indian, said.

The thrice-a-week Air India flight to Dubai is also doing well with close to 100 passengers from Pune on each trip, but the national carrier is not increasing operations. “The flight has got a good response and we have introduced the Air India Express on the route. There are no new flights planned from Pune,” an Air India official said.

With the blanket ban on additional daytime flights from Lohegaon by the Air Force, airport officials feel that the best option for increasing connectivity is to follow the ‘hub and spoke’ policy. “We can make use of our resources best by facilitating flights to a few major destinations from where easy connections are available to any part of the world. Airlines have to take the initiative and provide passengers with easy connecting flights from the city,” airport director Deepak Shastri added.




http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=212754

The Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) to be held in Pune in 2008 was a matter of pride for the nation and the Centre would take interest in making Pune a global city by then, said Union urban development minister Jaipal Reddy on Sunday.

He was speaking at the inaugural function of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), for which Pune has received a sanction of Rs 550 crore from the Union government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal mission

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Pune/Centre_to_help_make_Pune_a_global_city/articleshow/702640.cms

PCMC to implement slum rehab programme soon

Express News Service

Pune, December 12: Moving in the direction of implementing the Basic Services for Urban Poor projects, funded by the Centre under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has issued a notice inviting Requests for Qualification (RFQ) for its Rs 390 crore City Slum Rehabilitation Project (CSRP).

Co-ordinator of PCMC’s JNNURM projects Neelkanth Poman said the last date to submit the RFQs is January 22 after which pre-bid meetings would begin. He said the project would take off by March 2007 and is expected to be complete by 2009.



Under its CSRP, the PCMC plans to construct 18,160 houses for rehabilitation of slum dwellers. Six sites have been identified for the purpose. These sites are at Ajantanagar, Vetalnagar, Milindnagar, Uddhavnagar, Vitthalnagar and Sector Number 22 of Nigdi Pradhikaran.

Poman said the houses will be flats in multistoried buildings having monolithic RCC load bearing walls with formwork technology. He said this particular design was selected by civic body for houses because it is durable and construction takes less time.

This is the first PCMC project funded by the centre under the JNNURM to take off. Poman said the process to invite RFQs from companies for the civic body’s other JNNURM funded project to upgrade sewage treatment network is also on. The centre has sanctioned Rs 119 crore for PCMC’s sewage treatment project. Under the project, the PCMC plans to set up seven new sewage treatment plants and to connect each house in the industrial township with sewage treatment plant.
The PCMC has submitted projects totally worth over Rs 4,000 crore to the JNNURM. These include Rs 1,680 crore project for roads, Rs 64 crore for solid waste management, Rs 430 crore for riverfront improvement and Rs 380 crore for storm water drains.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/16138562.htm

Posted on Fri, Dec. 01, 2006
Sleepy city in India goes boom
By Kim Barker
Chicago Tribune

(MCT)

PUNE, India - Once a slow backwater known as Pensioners' Paradise, this small Indian city is now bursting at the seams. It is at the forefront of India's economic boom, a microcosm of both the country's incredible growth and its struggles to overcome ramshackle roads and baffling bureaucracy.

At the same time, Pune seems stuck between old India and new India: More people here use computers than in any other city in the country, and it hopes to be India's first city with high-speed wireless Internet service for all. Yet Pune has no road rules, no taxi service, only one airport runway and signs in sleek corporate buildings that show people how to use Western toilets.

"Pune was once a sleepy, sloppy city with no growth," said Darius Buhariwalla, general manager of the Hotel Sagar Plaza, where rooms are guaranteed only by booking a month in advance. "Now, every day there's such a lot of change going on, that we ourselves don't know what's going to happen next. But we do know one thing - people are just not willing to say `stop.'"

In its sheer numbers, the growth of Pune is staggering.

The city is spilling over its limits, with a population that grew from 2.54 million in 2001 to an estimated 3.19 million this year. Every day, government officials say, people register more than 400 new vehicles in Pune. About 4,000 people fly in and out daily, compared with a year ago, when only 1,800 people did.

Land prices have shot up, doubling in certain neighborhoods in the past two years. The skyline is a series of construction sites, where more than 40 million square feet of building space is being developed this year, the equivalent of the space in about nine Sears Towers, according to government figures.

Twenty shopping malls are now being built. And giant billboards advertise new housing developments such as "Poshville." One reads: "1 km from here you will realise what exclusive means."

Fueled by an influx of information-technology companies with gleaming new buildings and the promise of biotechnology, Pune now has the highest per capita income in India, about $1,030 per year. With 126 small colleges, each teaching an average of 150 students, the city is described in India as the Oxford of the East, churning out thousands of information-technology graduates.

The city, near India's west coast, has developed so explosively for a combination of reasons. It's close to the major business hub of Mumbai while offering a milder climate and a qualified labor pool to fill new jobs. Unlike congested larger cities, Pune has had room and inexpensive land for companies to grow.

Government incentives helped build Pune as a manufacturing hub in the 1960s and then as an information-technology hub in the 1990s. Pune, along with the central city of Hyderabad, was also promoted heavily as an alternative to overcrowded Bangalore for information-technology companies.

But at certain points, Pune's identity problem is all too evident.

At the Best Western Pride Hotel, under serious, sleep-disrupting renovation, clerks make the mistake of sending guests to their rooms with electronic key cards although the rooms can be opened only with actual keys.

And some instruction is needed about the new Western toilets for residents more accustomed to traditional Indian ones. "Please do not use it if you are not aware of its utility," a sign says above the Western toilet at Persistent Systems, a software development company.

"The way I would describe (Pune) is a village turning into a bigger village, turning into kind of a town, and wanting to be a city," said Girish Wardadkar, the president and executive director of KPIT Cummins Infosystems Limited, a consulting and information technology company.

If Pune does not make improvements, it runs the risk of turning into Bangalore, the country's original information-technology darling, where traffic and infrastructure snarls have forced some companies to flee.

Hotels are strapped. With an average occupancy rate of 84 percent between April and June, Pune had the highest occupancy rate in India, according to industry figures.

There are only 1,100 decent hotel rooms in the city, said Hotel Sagar Plaza's Buhariwalla, also the treasurer of Pune's hotel association. By 2012, there will be 4,500 rooms, if all the planned construction happens. At least 13,000 new hotel employees will be needed. "I don't know where they're going to come from," Buhariwalla said.

Until then, the city's hotels are charging what they can. The nicest ones can pull in $200 to $500 a night, and they're usually full. Amritaksha Chatterjee, the front office manager for Le Meridien, one of Pune's two nicest hotels, said he was shocked by one run-down hotel that was charging up to $150 a night.

"Forget it, we won't talk about such rooms," he said.

The Pune Airport, one of the only ones in India shared between the public and the Indian air force, has only one runway, which served about 10 passenger flights a day four years ago and now juggles more than 30. The airport is being renovated, but it's unlikely the government will be able to find land nearby for another runway. A second airport may have to be built.

Traffic on the city's narrow roads is occasionally at a standstill. Hand-painted trucks with "Horn OK Please" painted on rear bumpers play chicken on crowded roads with new SUVs. Chaos rules. On a Wednesday evening at 7:30, driving 1 mile took 40 minutes.

Pune Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer said traffic is the worst problem. Three years ago, the city spent almost $11 million to build and repair roads. This year, it will spend five times as much, Kareer said.

Change here, as in much of India, often happens in spite of government, not because of it.

That's not necessarily because officials lack vision. Kareer, the area's top official, is well-regarded in the business community. Instead, this is largely because of the huge Indian bureaucracy and the glacial pace it takes to accomplish anything.

For instance, in October, just when the city's wireless project was about to start, the central government announced new rules for going wireless. But these regulations have not yet been approved. Meanwhile, the project waits.

Private companies paid for the expressway between Mumbai and Pune in 2000. After the increasing demand on Pune's power system, leading to power cuts of five hours a day, 20 top companies agreed last summer to generate their power for six to eight hours a day, lowering the demand on city power.

"Anything here that is private is among the best in the world," said Kerman Kasad, the head of corporate communications for Symantec Corp. in Pune. "But whatever the government tries to do is among the worst in the world. ... The moment you talk about government, the first thing that comes to mind is run away."

City’s business scene gets a boost with opening of British Trade office

Express News Service

Pune, December 12: On Tuesday the city’s business scenario received a major fillip when CEO of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) Andrew Cahn inaugurated the British Trade Office (BTO).

Situated in the MCCIA Trade Tower on Senapati Bapat Road, the office will provide realistic knowledge and information as well as facilitate interaction to boost business sector in the city.



The BTO will function as an arm under the auspices of the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai. British deputy High commissioner, Mumbai Vicki Treadell said that BTO will also conduct studies and prepare reports based on the needs of industries in UK.

Speaking at the function, Treadell said, “The opening of the BTO in Pune marks our continuing commitment to furthering Indo-British business ties in Pune and our recognition of the significant economic potential of the city.’’

Advocating more investments and internationalisation Cahn pointed that studies have shown that companies which do not internationalise lose almost 30 per cent of their efficiency

Underlining the importance of the city and the country as a whole, Cahn said that UK is looking various sectors ranging from automotive, IT, biotech, finance, agri-business and advanced engineering.

Treadell mentioned that currently there are 118 British companies working in Pune and the British industries will bring new technology, training skills and value-addition for products.

For Indian companies wanting to invest in UK the BTO will facilitate in getting in touch with experts from London and introducing them to regional organisations, boards and other important authorities dominant. From time to time BTO will bring in trade delegations from UK to the city and give them a round about on the business scenario of the city.

Thai Air plans direct flight from Pune (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/12/15/stories/2006121505621000.htm)


Thai Airways has put Pune and Amritsar on its radar for launching its services. The airline is planning to launch a direct flight to Bangkok from Pune soon.

At present, the airline operates 14 flights a week to eight Indian destinations.

Mr Ruangyos Pamonmontri, the former Regional Director for India who has been recently appointed the head of Europe and Africa regions, said there was a lot of scope to expand the airline services to India, which was growing very fast. He was here in connection with the official opening of the airline's city office. It had recently launched services to Hyderabad along with Gaya and Varanasi.

Tata-Fiat joint venture revs up Rs 4,000-cr investment

Pune set to become car manufacturing hub of Asia

Express News Service

Pune, December 14: The partnership between the Tatas and Italian car giant Fiat has taken off to the next level with both the sides announcing the formation of a joint venture with aggregate investments of over Rs 4000 crore (over euro 665 million) in a phased manner. This will be the third major automobile investment, after General Motors and Volkswagen, that is coming Pune’s way in the last few months.

With this, Pune is set to become a major car manufacturing hub of Asia. US-based General Motors is setting up its second plant at Talegaon near Pune at a cost of $ 300 million. Volkswagen of Germany has proposed to invest $ 530 million in its first project at Chakan, Pune. The Tata-Fiat JV investment of Rs 4,000 crore underlines Pune’s emergence as a favoured automobile manufacturing destination for some of the global giants. Daimler Chrysler that is currently functioning from a leased facility owned by Tata Motors is planing to set up its own plant in the region. On the home-grown front, Tata Motors (commercial vehicles) and Bajaj Auto (two-wheeler) already operate their units in Pune.



The agreement between Tata Motors and Fiat calls mainly for the creation and establishment of an industrial JV in India, located at the Fiat plant at Ranjangaon, Pune, Maharashtra. “With capacities to produce in excess of 100,000 cars and 200,000 engines and transmissions yearly, at steady state, the Ranjangaon plant will manufacture vehicles for the Indian and overseas markets,” said Ravi Kant, managing director of Tata Motors.

Both Fiat and Tata vehicles will be manufactured at the same facility, which will be managed equally by the two partners. “Fiat Auto will introduce its premium cars for the B and C segments, namely the Fiat Grande Punto, and the Fiat Linea whose worldwide premiere occurred at the Istanbul Motorshow in early November,” Kant said.

According to Ratan Tata, Chairman of the company, the strategic alliance with Fiat enables the two companies jointly to present a wider range of product offerings to the Indian market. “It enables Tata Motors to access world-class powertrains from Fiat for its next generation car offerings while enhancing the model line at its dealerships,” he said.

The Tatas and Fiat kicked off their partnership with the former marketing Fiat cars last year.

According to Kant, the first assembly line for Fiat cars at Ranjangaon plant has already been commissioned for Fiat Palio and Fiat Adventure models and trial runs have already commenced. The first batch of cars will roll out in early 2007. “Now Fiat will not produce cars at its Kurla plant,” said a company official.

Fiat branded cars will be distributed by Tata through the Tata-Fiat dealer network as per the arrangement already in place since March 2006. The Tata-Fiat dealer network will progressively increase to 100 outlets for the launch of the new models to cover the entire length and breadth of the country.

Currently, over 40 Tata-Fiat dealerships are operational. Manufacturing of Tata cars in the joint venture will supplement the production capacities of the company’s car plant in Pune to meet growing demand and to prepare for new Tata car models. “The engine manufacturing envisages the highly acclaimed Fiat 1.3 litre multi-jet diesel engine, the 1.4 litre and a new 1.2 litre gasoline engine, both of the ‘Fire’ family, and Fiat transmissions,” a Tata official said.

The JV will start production of engines and new cars progressively from the beginning of 2008. While legal agreements are being completed, the companies will kickstart the implementation of the projects, and further enhance the relationship between the two organisations to leverage mutual strengths through a combined, complementary product portfolio and technology sharing.

Fiat and Tata are also continuing discussions for industrial and commercial cooperations in Latin America, as per a joint analysis which began in July 2006. These discussions are progressing positively, officials said.

Akruti Nirman ties up with DLF for IT park (http://www.business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=268530&subLeft=1&leftnm=1)

Real estate developer Akruti Nirman has tied up with India’s largest real estate company DLF for setting up a massive IT park at Hinjewadi, Pune.

The Hinjewadi IT park will be built on five million sq ft. The first phase of the project, covering 1.2 mn sq will cost about Rs 183 crore.

The IT park complex, scheduled for completion in June 2012, will have eight buildings, aggregating approximately 5 million square feet of saleable and lettable commercial space.

The company, which plans to go public early next year, has lined up several residential, commercial and retail projects to be developed over the next few years, apart from drawing up plans to launch pan-India development operations.

The company is evaluating the acquisition of land or development rights in other cities with growth potential like Jaipur, Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Baroda.

Sources familiar with the development estimate that Akruti, as of now, has over 13 million sq ft, on which residential, commercial and retail complexes will come up. The company plans to develop over eight million sq ft of commercial complexes, 3.6 million sq ft of residential and about 2 million sq ft of retail complexes.

Riding the retail boom, the company has embarked on plans to construct six massive malls in and around Mumbai with the sizes going up to a whopping one million sq ft.

BRTS work on other roads begins

Express News Service

Pune, December 22: THE IIT Delhi team has submitted its preliminary report on implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit System on 12 other city roads. The roads fall under phase 1 of the PMC’s BRTS project for which the Centre had sanctioned Rs 476 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission on October 25.

Municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer said the reports were submitted to the PMC a few days ago. ‘‘Work on some of the roads which fall under phase 1 have already begun,’’ he added.


Meanwhile, assistant professor of the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPP) at IIT, Delhi Geetam Tiwari, who was instrumental in preparing the blueprint for the BRTS pilot on Pune-Satara and Pune-Solapur roads , visited the corridor on Friday. She has made new suggestions to overcome the problems while implementing the BRTS at Jedhe Chowk, Swargate. ‘‘The team has suggested alternatives to the traffic diversion at Swargate. It will submit the drawings to the PMC by Tuesday,’’ Kareer said.

Though work on Pune-Solapur Road for BRTS has already begun, a number of problems regarding bus routes in the Cantonment limit, Public Works Department land and implementation of the route on the Hadapsar flyover exist. Kareer said the team was figuring out whether bus-stops for BRTS should be made on the flyover.

BRTS Phase 1 roads
* Yerawada to Vishrantwadi
* Nagar Road
* Sinhagad Road
* Airport Road
* Mundhwa bypass
* Bhairoba pumping station
* Lal Bahadur Shastri Road
* Karve Road
* Sangamwadi to Kharadi IT Park
* Paud Road
* Baner Road
* Vishrantwadi to Dhanori

-----==--=--==-----

G. C. Complex, Pune: various buildings up to 30 stories
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/8411/003b6ef610sc9.jpg
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5663/004b6f0254cl2.jpg

Architect Ajit Bhuta and Associates

-----==--=--==-----

^^

When will it all be completed?

This may up the ante for highrises all over India.

Jai................Is this U/C? if it is its great. Pune is really enjoying the spillover effect of being so close to Bombay. That MPE has done world of good to Pune.
-----==--=--==-----
G. C. Complex, Pune: various buildings up to 30 stories
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/8411/003b6ef610sc9.jpg
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5663/004b6f0254cl2.jpg
Architect Ajit Bhuta and Associates
-----==--=--==-----

The project says Thane.

Im not sure if the Indian Air Force has given permission for constructing High rises in Pune, but if this gets built, then it will open up construction for lot more high rises in Pune.


Mean while,

Pune readies flight path for international airport

IAF gives in-principle approval in writing, 1,000 hectares to be notified next month

Manu Pubby

Pune, December 25: The city seems to be finally on track to get its own independent single runway international airport as the state government has appointed a private consultant to see the project through and initiated the process to notify close to 1,000 hectares of land near Rajgurunagar for the airport. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), the nodal agency for developing the greenfield airport, has appointed Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) as consultants and it will notify the required land within a month for fast track clearance of the project.


With the new site — nicknamed Chakan II — receiving the vital in-principle approval from the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the form of a letter on November 9, MIDC is concurrently working on several fronts to speed up the project. This gains significance as the earlier project to develop an airport at Chakan was scrapped at an advanced stage after IAF refused to grant permission.




“The in-principle approval by IAF has come as a major boost for the project. A decision has been taken by the high-powered committee to notify the land for the new site. Several steps are going on concurrently and once the land has been acquired, we will be able to move fast,” MIDC chief executive officer Rajiv Jalota told Pune Newsline.

MIDC also hopes that by appointing IL&FS, it will be able to hasten work as the firm was also the consultant for the scrapped Chakan airport. “The decision has been to basically extend their contract for the new project. A lot of time will get saved as they have already generated a lot of data on Chakan,” Jalota said. The firm is experienced in handling greenfield airports and was the consultant for the Bangalore airport, he added.

While IL&FS will create a detailed techno feasibility report on the project, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) will give the final nod to the airport.

According to the conditions laid down in the IAF letter of November 9, a joint working group of IAF, AAI and Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials will need to be structured to draw out the air routes and alignment of the runway.

With MIDC also planning an Inland Container Depot (ICD) near the airport, officials say that the project has top priority, as it will boost investments in the region.

Posco sets up India processing unit in Pune

Korean steel major Posco inaugurated on Thursday its first processing centre in the country which will serve the electronics and automobile manufacturers in Pune and the western region.

The centre set up as a 65:35 joint venture between Posco and consumer electronics major LG Electronics, has a capacity to process 130,000 tonnes of HR steel. The joint venture has invested Rs 65 crore in the project.

The processing centre will source flat steel and slit and cut it according to the requirements of the customers, largely in the electricals industry for transformers, washing machines or other home appliances and by the automobile manufacturing sector for components.

These cut pieces would then be straightway used in the customers' press shops, thereby saving time and cost.

The principal customers of the unit will include electricals and auto manufacturers like LG Electronics, Tata Motors or Crompton Greaves, Gilho Bang, Managing Director of POS-IPC Pvt Ltd said.

Bang said the company will import about 70 per cent of its steel requirement from Posco's Korea plant and the rest will be sourced out of Indian steel plants.

The company is expecting to earn revenues of about $ 150 million in the first full year of operation which will be April-March 2007--08.

Bang said the company is planning another unit of the same capacity within the existing campus in the second half of the next year.

"The region is expecting major investents in automobile segment as General Motors, Volxwagon and Daimler Chrysler are setting up plants are Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors are steppinmg up production. We have to be prepared for the opportunity," Bang said. (END)

Gurgaon likely next

Posco is planning to set up another steel processing unit in India in the next few months.

This is likely to be in Gurgaon and will largely work with the automobile and electrical and electronics manufacturers in the north India region.

Bang did not confirm the development, but sources close to the plans said the second Posco IPS will come in Gurgaon as a joint venture with another Korean major Samsung.

This will be 81:19 JV between Posco and Samsung and will offer blanking, tailor welded blanking and hydroforming processes, the sources said. They did not disclose the capacities or the probable investment in the centre

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu1&subLeft=1&autono=269411&tab=r

BIG TICKET INVESTMENTS

It was destination Pune for corporates — from signing agreement for setting up of SEZs to huge money coming in auto sector to strengthening its manufacturing base to ubiquitous IT sector — the city did have a fair share of the moolah

Zeenat Nazir

Pune, December 27: Buoyed by a young, skilled populace, a thriving engineering base and a globally competitive automobile industry, Pune took pride of place as ‘a preferred business destination’ for scores of multinationals this year. The city succeeded in attracting a whopping Rs 10,000 crore worth of high-value investments, representing a third of investments flowing into the state. Taking the city’s strong educational and R&D base into cognizance, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh went so far as to declare Pune a ‘Knowledge City’. A look at the year that has made Pune a name to reckon with, globally

EXPANDING HORIZONS
With 72 agreements being signed for setting up special economic zones (SEZs), Maharashtra had the highest number of SEZs lining up to set up base in the state and Pune definitely figures high on the destination list. Amongst the earliest to announce its SEZ plans was Serum Institute of India with the company planning Rs 1,200-crore investment, in what would be India’s first biotech SEZ, located at Hadapsar. The facility would propel Pune into the big league of pharma destinations, allowing it to export a billion doses of vaccines for domestic and international markets. Soon after, the Mahindra group announced its plans to develop a 3,000-acre SEZ at Karla with an outlay of Rs 2,000 crore. Next came Bharat Forge which signed a MoU with the state to jointly develop a mammoth multi-product SEZ in Khed taluka, likely to attract investments of about Rs 25,000 crore. “We will promote establishment of SEZs in areas like biotechnology, IT hardware and multiple products. We expect investments of Rs 25,000 crore in such units over the next five years in Pune,” Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation chief executive officer Rajiv Jalota said.



REVVING IT UP
Pune’s automobile industry also revved up to attract investments in 2006. Even as city-based Bajaj Auto declared its intention to set up a Rs 2,000-crore greenfield project at Chakan to manufacture three-wheelers and light four-wheelers, global auto giants General Motors initiated a ground breaking ceremony to set up its manufacturing facility at Talegaon. The car major invested $300 million for the 120 hectare plant that aims to roll out 1,40,000 cars. And when it was time for German auto major Volkswagon to set up a plant in India, it chose Pune over Andhra Pradesh or Chennai to loosen its purse strings. The company inked an agreement to set up a manufacturing unit at Chakan, investing more than Rs 2,400 crore — the biggest ever by a German company in India. Soon after, Tata and Italian car giant Fiat announced the formation of a joint venture with aggregate investments of over Rs 4,000 crore at Ranjangaon.

MANUFACTURING BONANZA
SCORING a lead over Orissa, Pune became the first city in the country to play host to South Koran steel behemoth POSCO by establishing its Indian processing centre — POS-IPC- at Talegaon. POSCO’s S M Yoon said that Pune’s fast growing industry and automotive sector would generate a huge demand for the company’s product, prompting them to invest in the city. For the same reason, J C Bamford, a global name in excavators, turned bullish on Pune’s construction equipment industry and commissioned its second plant here with an investment of Rs 450 crore.

LOGGING ON TO GLOBAL WORLD
FOR the IT industry, 2006 marked a year of acquisitions, deals and lucrative contracts. While the city-based Tata Research Development and Design Centre (TRDDC) celebrated its silver jubilee of innovation by laying out a 2020 vision, others like Kanbay decided to merge with Capgemini to improve competencies. Just this month, Tech Mahindra signed a $1 billion deal to provide British Telecom with strategic sourcing services, highlighting the global competency of Pune’s ITeS industry. And even as Pune basks in its newfound IT glory, neighboring Baramati received a high-profile visit from $32.82-billion chipmaker Intel Corporation chairman Craig Barrett. “I came to Baramati with an intention to understand and replicate the IT applications used here at other rural locales in India. But I am now convinced that the Baramati recipe can find global application,” Barrett said, reflecting the global nature of Pune’s industry. Truly global, we would say.
(With inputs from Plaban Gupta)

yaar cncity, please try to provide links to your articles. It is very handy if you have to quote them somewhere else.

yaar cncity, please try to provide links to your articles. It is very handy if you have to quote them somewhere else.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=214988

yaar cncity, please try to provide links to your articles. It is very handy if you have to quote them somewhere else.

Sorry about that Kronik, Will do so henceforth.

P.S Thnx Goram.

MUMBAI: After Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz is driving into Maharashtra. Daimler Chrysler, the company that manufactures the world-renowned car, will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Maharashtra on Thursday.

As reported by ET in November the MoU is being signed for a Rs 250-crore manufacturing facility most likely to come up at MIDC’s Chakan estate on the outskirts of Pune. The company was also looking at MIDC’s Ranjangaon and Talegaon estates, but sources said it has zeroed in on Chakan.

The world-renowned auto major’s decision to set shop in Maharashtra is in line with several big-ticket investment commitments its getting in the auto sector.

Bajaj Auto (BAL) recently signed an MoU for setting up a new manufacturing facility at Chakan. BAL already has a manufacturing facility in Chakan besides the one at Akurdi near Pune and Waluj in Aurangabad district. General Motors (GM) has also committed a deal with the state for setting up its second manufacturing facility near Pune.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Daimler_inks_MoU_to_set_up_plant_in_state/articleshow/1042536.cms

Bombay Dyeing to shift production facility (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/01/06/stories/2007010604140500.htm)


Bombay Dyeing will shift its entire textile production from Worli facility in Mumbai to Ranjangaon, near Pune. The new plant is expected to be fully commissioned by June.

"The Ranjangaon facility will have a capacity to make 52 million metres of cloth a year, more than double the capacity of the Worli plant," said Mr S.K. Gupta, Executive Director, Bombay Dyeing, at the launch of a new bed and bath collection — Urban Living.

VSNL opens BPO centre at country’s first IT SEZ in city

Express News Service

Pune, January 8: REINFORCING Pune’s reputation as a hub for back-end operations, VSNL on Monday went live with their global delivery centre at what is considered to be the country’s first IT-specific special economic zone (SEZ) at Kharadi.
“The centre will cover our international footprint and allow us to handle a major component of our back-end operations for our international network support. With this centre, we will be entering the new area of business process outsourcing (BPO). Besides this, the facility will also include network engineering and design,” VSNL International chief technology officer John Hayduk said.



He said VSNL would also look at handling back-end operations for other carriers. “There are a lot of network carriers that will be coming to India soon and we may look at providing BPO services for them as well,” Hayduk said.

Spread over 60,000 sq ft, the centre will have 600 people once the entire facility is operational at Panchshil’s ‘EON Free Zone’. Currently, the company will commence operations from a 180-seater incubational facility.

Following VSNL to the free zone will be automobile products and solutions firm Eaton with a 1,800-seater facility.

Meanwhile, Hayduk said VSNL would also look expand its portfolio of services - messaging conversions for mobile services, both CDMA and GSM. “The enterprise space is also exciting and we will look at managing services and offerings,” he said.

Besides, to streamline its international operations after the acquisition of Tyco Telecom and Teleglobe over the last two years, it also plans to add more cable systems for India and China. VSNL is also eye acquisitions to enhance its portfolio of services, he added.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=216693

Source: Economic times epaper.

HAVING gone through the trial phase over the past few years, design engineering is moving to India and Pune seems to be at the forefront of the action.
As players point out, the larger multinationals have their 1,000-plus employee centres in Bangalore but in sheer numbers of engineering design companies, perhaps Pune has a lead.
A rough count puts the number of dedicated engineering design companies at just over a dozen, not including the application engineering centres that the older MNCs are doing. Nor does it include the out-sourced software engineering design, which is also a sizeable segment here. The engineering design that is being talked of here is for global products, and not just the application engineering or homologation of an existing product being ‘Indianised’.
Observers cited the case of Volkswagen (VW) the German automotive major which is not going to wait for its 230 acre, euro 415 million Chakan manufacturing plant to be ready by ’09. It is in the process of setting up a procurement and design engineering presence in anticipation of its assembly operations.
Among the players already present in the city are Emerson Design Engineering Centre (EDEC), the design centre of the $17 billion conglomerate Emerson, tractor major John Deere’s global technology centre, the engineering design centre of the $11.1 billion industrial major Eaton Corporation, the $1 billion Carraro group, Italian manufacturer of driveline systems for agricultural tractors and other segments in the automotive market, or the Spanish Groupo Antolin, euro 1. 4 billion auto component manufacturer.
Among the others present here are Dana Corporation, Magna Steyr, Cummins Research and Technology India, Honeywwell Automation, International Trucks and Engines and NACCO Materials Handling Group Inc (NMHG), a lift truck manufacturer which does not sell its products in India.
Eaton, which is set to expand into a new, 1.7 lakh sq ft facility, will use this not just for design engineering but also for other offshoring initiatives, using it as an incubator.
While most of the companies who have located their engineering design companies in Pune have a presence in the domestic market, NMHG is the exception. The $2.8-billion lift truck manufacturer does not sell its products in India but has set up a centre for design, analysis and software development. The work done here will be for the global product line up, which covers warehouse trucks, counter-balanced trucks, large capacity cargo and container handling trucks.
Balaji Gopalan, director, HR, India and China, Carraro India, said they plan to increase head count from the current 45 design engineers to 70 by December ’07.
“If this were for just the cost advantage, then out-sourcing would be cheaper and was the route used initially, as companies tested work done here. Now, these same companies are sending high-end work here, to their own centres, after having started with the low-end work like conversion from 2-D to 3-D,” Mr Balaji said.
DESIGN DOYENS

• Larger multinationals have their 1,000-plus employee centres in Bangalore but in sheer number of engineering design companies, Pune is ahead.

• Engineering design that is being talked of here is for global products, and not just the application engineering or homologation of a product being ‘Indianised’.

• While most companies that have engineering design companies in Pune have a presence in the domestic market, NMHG is the exception. The lift truck manufacturer does not sell its products in India.

The project says Thane.

doh

Mahindra Intl plans Rs 2000cr unit in Pune
Press Trust of India / Mumbai January 15, 2007

Mahindra International, the commercial vehicle arm of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), has zeroed in on Pune to set up a greenfield plant at an investment of over Rs 2,000 crore.

"Maharashtra has been selected for this new venture between Mahindra and International Truck and Engine Corporation (ITEC) for manufacturing commercial vehicles," a senior state government official told PTI. An M&M spokesperson, however, declined to comment.

Mahindra International, a 51:49 joint venture between M&M and US-based ITEC, has already commenced manufacturing light commercial vehicles (LCV) under a contract manufacturing arrangement with M&M at the Zaheerabad plant in Andhra Pradesh.

Pune to house country’s fourth cyber crime lab (http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=152371)

The Pune police, Nasscom and Pune-based IT company, Persistent Systems Ltd, have joined hands and set up the first Cyber Crime Investigation Lab in Pune. After labs in Mumbai, Thane and Bangalore, this is the fourth cyber crime lab in the country.

“Pune already has a cyber crime cell and now the lab has been added and the centre could be upgraded at a later stage to have cyber forensics,” PS Pasricha, director general of police, Maharashtra, said at the opening of the lab. The labs in Mumbai and Thane were proving to be useful in assisting investigations.

With the kind of progress Pune was witnessing, the city could also be a target and so the city will have to be on alert, the DGP warned. “We have suggested to the government to form ATS (anti-terrorism squad) in Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad and Nagpur. A proposal has gone to the state cabinet,” Pasricha informed.

Suresh Deshpande, director, Persistent Systems Ltd which contributed to the lab, said that computer literacy was no longer enough to deal with crimes and the police would have to learn how to investigate cyber crimes. Deshpande said that Persistent would be willing to contribute further for capacity building within the police force to deal with cyber crimes. DN Jadhav, commissioner of police Pune, hoped more companies with expertise would come forward and contribute to the project.

The lab will train law enforcement officials in cyber crime investigation techniques and provide technical support for investigations. The Pune Lab will also function as a regional hub and undertake training and investigation in Pune and adjoining cities of Solapur, Nashik, Aurangabad, Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur.

Marriott opens three hotels in Pune (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/02/03/stories/2007020305090200.htm)


Marriott International has announced its expansion in the country with its latest foray of three new hotels in Pune. The properties to be operated under management contract with a Pune-based property development group, will have an aggregate of 833 rooms under its brands JW Marriott, Marriott and Courtyard in the luxury and upscale categories.

The three hotels are expected to operational in the next three years with the 153-room Courtyard by Marriott West Pune in the upper-moderate tier to be opened next year. The remaining two, the 250-room JW Marriott Hotel Pune in the luxury class will start functioning from 2009 and the 430-room Pune Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre in the upscale, deluxe tier is scheduled to open in 2010.

The JW Marriott Hotel Pune, to be located 10 km from the airport, will be part of a 13-acre, mixed-use project that will also include four office towers totalling 1.5-lakh sq.m. of space and 20,000-sq.m of high-end retail space.

The Pune Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre will be situated on Senapati Bapat Road, about six km west of the Pune railway station and will be easily accessible to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The hotel will be part of a mixed-use development, which will also include office and retail space.

Elixir starts delivery centre in Pune (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/02/03/stories/2007020301490200.htm)


Elixir Web Solutions, the recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) company, has started its RPO delivery centre here. Mr Mohit Sareen, Partner, Elixir, said an investment of Rs 4 crore has been utilised for the Pune centre which has a 60-seater capacity.

Currently, there are 45 personnel on its rolls and the company would ramp it up to 120 by March 2008. The Pune centre would also house a knowledge management centre by the end of 2008, which is a part of the Rs 60-crore project, Mr Mohit said.

He said the company would target the verticals of IT, ITeS and manufacturing. The company has received Rs 150 crore as angel funding, which would be deployed for its expansion plans as also for its acquisition in the US.

Elixir was in talks for acquisition of a mid-sized New York-based software development company, which has about 50 clients and is into development of mobile applications, he said, and noted that the company would be acquired by August.

He explained that the company has channel partners in the US and the UK and was now exploring the Japanese market for channel partners. It is also talking to Volts Information Services, a US-based staffing company, for channel partners and that it was in talks for complete process offshoring.

The company had registered a turnover of Rs 20 crore for the year ended March 2006 and was targeting Rs 35 crore as turnover for the current fiscal, he said. The company estimates a turnover of Rs 12 crore from the Pune centre by 2007-08, he added.

Hotel rooms is something Pune desparately needs...Thats good news for Pune. The 450-room is still said to be short for the International Convention centre where its coming up.

Marriott opens three hotels in Pune (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/02/03/stories/2007020305090200.htm)


Marriott International has announced its expansion in the country with its latest foray of three new hotels in Pune. The properties to be operated under management contract with a Pune-based property development group, will have an aggregate of 833 rooms under its brands JW Marriott, Marriott and Courtyard in the luxury and upscale categories.

The three hotels are expected to operational in the next three years with the 153-room Courtyard by Marriott West Pune in the upper-moderate tier to be opened next year. The remaining two, the 250-room JW Marriott Hotel Pune in the luxury class will start functioning from 2009 and the 430-room Pune Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre in the upscale, deluxe tier is scheduled to open in 2010.

The JW Marriott Hotel Pune, to be located 10 km from the airport, will be part of a 13-acre, mixed-use project that will also include four office towers totalling 1.5-lakh sq.m. of space and 20,000-sq.m of high-end retail space.

The Pune Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre will be situated on Senapati Bapat Road, about six km west of the Pune railway station and will be easily accessible to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The hotel will be part of a mixed-use development, which will also include office and retail space.

Guardian minister wants wider internal roads


Express News Service
Pune, February 10: AFTER being ignored for years when it came to good roads and water, fringe villages which stand in Pune’s backyard, can look forward to better infrastructure with district guardian minister Ajit Pawar mooting wide internal roads and a ring road network to link all the 23 merged villages.

At a meeting of top officials in Yashwantrao Chavan Academy for Development Administration on Saturday, Pawar said roads in the fringe areas would be at least 24 mt wide and the proposed ring road will be widened from 60 mt to 90 mt.
Pawar has told director of town planning, district collector Prabhakar Deshmukh and municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer to start land acquisition process for the proposed ring roads and complete it within six months. The first ring road will be a 20 km stretch from Undri to Hadapsar via Phursungi.

Pawar has directed the authorities to ensure that the roads in the fringe areas are not narrow. The width of city roads range from 9 mt to 12 mt. “In the fringe areas, all the roads should be more than 24 mt and up to 60 mt wide,” he said.

Improvements will also be made at the Dehu road-Katraj bypass. Pawar has said that the six lane bypass will also have service lanes. “All four-lane bypasses will be made into six lanes,” he said.

The authorities are also planning a road network for Pune city where it will have a four-tier network. The outer network will include the external ring road, an internal ring road connecting the 23 merged villages and a Bus Rapid Transit System network bringing people into the city. Plans are to introduce a metro or sky bus in the central part of the city.

The PMC has written a letter to the Central Institute of Road Transport to submit a plan on whether a sky bus or metro can be implemented in the city. The CIRT will take the assistance of the American Road Development Authority and the Government of India for the survey.




http://cities.expressindia.com/archivefullstory.php?newsid=221688&creation_date=2007-02-11

Five routes, 20 km under IIT-Delhi interim report scanner, Shivne-Sangamwadi to provide riverside drive

Express News Service

Pune, February 13: Pune’s tryst with Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) seems set to continue as it is now going to be extended to five more routes - Ganeshkhind, Bibvewadi, Saswad, Pashan and Kondhwa roads. The additional routes will lead to an increase in BRTS routes from the existing 21 to 26 and further extend the network from 97.5 km to 117.9 km.

These five routes have been suggested in addition to the 21-route network plan in an interim report submitted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)- Delhi and city-based Central Institute for Road Transport (CIRT) to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The report has identified 10 BRTS routes for development on a priority basis as also picked the 10.4-km Shivne-Sangamwadi stretch for the riverside BRTS route.


Talking to Newsline, Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer said, “These five routes will be taken up for development in the second phase of BRTS and permission will be sought from the Centre to include them in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission”. Presently, only 21 routes come under the JNNURM cover.

The interim report has also selected 10 routes, including Satara and Solapur roads, where the BRTS pilot is on, to be completed on a priority basis. The other eight routes are Nagar, Paud, old Mumbai-Pune, Yerawada to Bhairoba nalla, Ganeshkhind , Bibvewadi, Saswad and Sangamwadi to Kharadi IT Park roads.

The priority routes were selected after ranking them on three counts - number of passenger trips during peak hours, passenger trips using buses during peak hours and the right of way (available width of the road). Those having the highest number of passenger trips, large share of passengers using buses and availability of the necessary road width have been given top priority and recommendations have been made for the completion of these routes.

The report had initially identified 16 routes, from which these 10 routes were shortlisted. Traffic on the remaining six routes mostly comprises two-wheeler and therefore their completion can be done in the second phase, the report said.

The decision to expand the BRTS routes comes even as doubts have been raised from many quarters about the manner in which the BRTS pilot has been executed so far. Till date, four people have died on the Pune-Satara road where the BRTS pilot has been partly executed.


http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=222123

Rs 105-crore project waiting for land acquisition process to be complete

Express News Service

Pune, February 20: The standing committee on Monday approved a tender worth Rs 105 crore submitted by Nagpur-based SMS Infrastructure for two riverside roads—the phase I from Shivne to Mhatre bridge along the Mutha river and the phase II Sangamwadi to Kharadi Road along the Mula river. The tender amounts to 10 per cent of the Rs 1,200 crore annual PMC budget.

Both roads were proposed in the 1987 development plan and have been pending for the past 20 years. :bash: The PMC has set June 2008 as the deadline for the completion of the roads. However, in a letter dated February 8, 2007 executive director of SMS Infrastructure Dilip Surana has said it may not be possible to start work immediately. “The deadline of the project will have to be extended,” said Surana.



The reasons: The PMC has not acquired land in several stretches where the roads are to come up. Moreover, one km of the roads’ alignment passes through defence land. “The plant and other machinery will be brought and work will begin only after sufficient stretch is available (for construction),” the letter states. Riverside dumping is also a problem, Surana said. The two monsoons (June 2007 and June 2008) will also take away four months of work, he added.

The 21.60 km-long and 24 mt to 30 mt-wide road will be four-laned with dividers, footpaths, cycle tracks, jogging tracks. It will be the nearest link to the Mumbai-Bangalore national highway, Dehu Road easterly bypass and Nagar Road and the closest route from Ambegaon Khurd, Wadgaon Budruk, Dhayari, Warje, Karvenagar and Kothrud to the eastern side.

The PMC had opened the tender in December 2006 but since the code of conduct for the February 1 civic polls prevented approval. The stretches from Rajaram bridge to Mhatre bridge, Sadalbaba Darga to Yerawada crematorium and from HDFC Bank to Kalyaninagar Bridge will be strengthened.

The Pune Municipal Corporation will sign an MoU with the Pune Cantonment Board to upgrade the decaying sewage system in the PCB. The civic bodies will demarcate the scope of work and decide on a joint action plan for the Rs 16 crore project.
The MoU will encompass the location of the main sewage line and works on the Manik Nalla that comes under the jurisdiction of both bodies. Other things like locations of pumping stations and setting up a sewage treatment plant will be discussed.
The existing sewage system that was laid 60 years ago to cater to 20,000 residents has to be entirely re-laid as it causes sanitary problems in the areas, especially during rains. The low-lying areas like Bhimpura lines, Solapur Bazar area and Shivaji market where waste disposal lines from individual properties get clogged during monsoons. These sewage lines are completely to be laid with new pipelines, as there is also a rise in population in main areas around the city.

http://www.projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=13142


Only if there werent soo many different municipalities in Pune, work would have been so much easier and faster.

Express News Service

Pune, February 22: PUNE’s attempts to fix its crumbling infrastructure got a big fillip with the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) agreeing in-principle to provide the Pune Municipal Corporation with Rs 1,000-crore loan at 1.5 per cent interest rate. The proposal that has been caught in local political wrangles for nearly a year-and-a-half, took a step ahead with municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer agreeing to avail the loan at a meeting with JBIC officials in New Delhi on Thursday.

In addition to the Rs 1,000-crore loan, the bank has also agreed to make available funds for improving the water network in the city. A Japanese delegation will soon be visiting the city to work out the modalities and finalise the plans.


The project - Integrated Project for Pune Redevelopment - will include development works in four fields: Transport, river, environment and tourist spots. (See box)

Earlier, the JBIC had proposed to the Centre that it was willing to issue a soft loan to the cities at a low rate of 1.5 per cent for executing environment-friendly projects and Pune was among one of the cities selected under the project.

The JBIC loan proposal has been mired in controversy right from the beginning when the municipal administration sent the proposal to the State government without the consent of the general body. The State in turn forwarded it to the Centre, but the mayor objected to it. It was sent back to the PMC for reconsideration and finally it got the general body approval and in March 2005, the State government also cleared the loan proposal.

The Citizens’ Development Society of India (CDSI) had prepared a detailed report which includes upgradation of existing roads, transport system, rejuvenation of rivers, augmenting forestation, heritage conservation and beautification of lakes. Bus and truck termini have also been proposed as part of the plan.

The major opposition to the loan has been from local MP and Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi, who blamed his archrival and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar of sending the proposal without a proper discussion. Kalmadi was miffed at denial of Rs 8-crore contract to global consultancy major McKinsey and Co for preparing the city’s blueprint, while Pawar had pushed for the Rs 1,000-crore loan from the Japanese bank.

Mega bucks
As per the original proposal, the expenditure is as follows:

TRANSPORT
* E-buses: Rs 190 cr
* Conversion of buses to CNG: Rs 60 cr
*New roads and tunnels: Rs 60 cr
* Bus terminus: Rs 120 cr
* Truck terminus: Rs 33 cr

RIVERS
* River bank beautification: Rs 16 cr
* River bank bridge road: Rs 300
* Canals adjoining the river: Rs 70 cr
* 10 weirs: Rs 8 cr

ENVIRONMENT
* Tree plantation on 800 hectare land of forest department and picnic spot on 1,100 hectare land near Khadakwasla: Rs 110 cr

TOURIST SPOTS
* Religious: Rs 14 cr
* Heritage and historic places: Rs 15 cr
* Lake beautification: Rs 4 cr


http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=223620

Express News Service

Pune, February 23: A fleet of 200 new Ashok Leyland buses will be added to the PMT’s existing fleet of around 800 buses by March 31. This is expected to improve the transport body’s passenger carrying capacity.

The announcement was made by PMT General Manager C K Anil at the general body meeting of the Pune Municipal Corporation on Friday. The transport body is also looking forward to begin plying buses lying idle in depots, due to lack of repairs or spare parts.



http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=223782

Zensar offshore centres near Pune (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/02/27/stories/2007022704530400.htm)


The Pune-based IT services provider Zensar Technologies is planning to spend about Rs 40 crore to set up offshore development centres (ODCs) at its existing headquarter campus near Pune. Two new buildings will be established on the campus for the purpose.

The new centres would focus on verticals like retail, manufacturing, and media and entertainment, said Dr Ganesh Natarajan, Deputy Chairman and CEO, Zensar Technologies."We would employ about 1,400 more people over the next two years to service the needs of our clients in these business verticals," Dr Natarajan told Business Line.

The two centres would be developed in phases; the first phase to be completed by December 2007 and the second by June 2008. The centres would primarily cater to clients in Europe and the US. The development plans would be financed totally through internal accruals, added Dr Natarajan.

Parts of Pune to go Wi-Fi in July

Express News Service

Pune, February 27: A year after unfolding ‘Unwire Pune’, the PMC will give an easy, seamless Internet connectivity solution to citizens, businesses and academic institutions in a 20 km radius of Shivajinagar, Deccan Gymkhana, Aundh and Baner from July. This wireless communication network infrastructure will cover the entire 400 sq kms of Pune city in phases.

Intel India had been selected as the chief technology and programme management consultant. The project will be implemented by Microsense company and users will have to pay Rs 250 for 100 hours of internet connectivity .

The project, in which the PMC will not make any financial investments, will be implemented by Microsense free for ten years. Earlier, PMC had allotted Rs 7 crore for the project in the budget. Now, it will give the revenue earned to Microsense. Over one lakh PMC school students will benefit from the free internet services while the PMC building will also get 2 MBPS capacity internet service.

The Wi-Fi project had got a poor response from service providers. Last year, the PMC had signed a contract with Dish-Net but could not implement the project as the Wi-Max policy was to be finalised. However, a letter on February 23 from Microsense wanting to implement the project on its own is a shot for the PMC.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=224378

Express News Service

Pune, February 28: Finance Minister P Chidambaram seemed to have kept in mind his brush with the city’s bad roads during his budget speech as he earmarked Rs 50 crore exclusively for the Commonwealth Youth Games to be held next year. An additional Rs 500 crore is expected under the Centre’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) ahead of the sports event.
It was on December 2 that Chidambaram castigated the city administration, not mincing words about its bad roads, incomplete flyovers and dirty rivers. “If you want investments, please lay good roads, build flyovers and create a better infrastructure. Without this, growth will not take place,” Chidambaram had said.



Member of Parliament Suresh Kalmadi on Wednesday welcomed the Finance Minister’s announcement of Rs 50 crore along with Rs 150 crore to the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry for organising the Commonwealth Games.

“We have got Rs 50 crore exclusively for Pune while another Rs 150 crore will be allocated between Pune and Delhi, which will be holding the Commonwealth Games in 2010. We are quite satisfied,” said Kalmadi, who is the organising committee chairman for the 2008 event.

The allocated Rs 50 crore will be utilised on infrastructure development at Balewadi along with Rs 110 crore already sanctioned by the Planning Commission and Rs 60 crore by the state government, he said. The estimate for the Balewadi infrastructure was revised from Rs 170 crore to Rs 285 crore. Kalmadi is expecting another Rs 50 crore in the next budget. “Most of our budgetary requirement will be taken care of that way,” he said.

Under the JNNURM, Kalmadi said the Finance Minister has announced Rs 4,987 crore out of which Pune is expected to get around Rs 500 crore for infrastructure development in time for the Commonwealth Games. “We are expecting a sizeable allocation which will be utilised for improving the roads and bridges in the city,” he said.

Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer too was happy with the announcement for JNNURM and said, “it is a great news”. The PMC has drawn plans for various projects under JNNURM for improving the city infrastructure ahead of the Commonwealth Youth Games. “The additional Rs 50 crore means total funds can be used for strengthening the infrastructure,” he said. The JNNURM plan for the Commonwealth Games is around Rs 475 crore, he said.

The city is hosting a major sporting event 12 years after the National Games in 1994. Around 1,200 athletes from 71 countries will participate in the event that will have nine games, including three new disciplines — swimming, table tennis and wrestling —from October 12 to 18, 2008.

Kalmadi said the games village, where the athletes will be hosted, will be constructed through a private-public participation and hence no money will be required on that front.


http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=224555

Pune’s healthcare profile is poised to climb several notches with more speciality hospitals announcing plans to set up facilities here.
After the 110-bed surgical speciality Seth Ramdas Shah memorial hospital and research centre (SRSMHRC) was launched in Gokhalenagar last week, the Mumbai based Bombay endoscopy academy and centre for minimally invasive surgery (Beams) announced plans to start a fibroid clinic in the next three months.
Collaborating with the renowned Germany-based Richard Wolf centre of excellence for minimal invasive surgery training and research, the SRSMHRC will also be the hub for clinical trials and providing training on use of sophisticated surgical equipment.
Besides these two hospitals, a quaternary super-speciality woman and child hospital and centre of excellence is also coming up in Pune in the next three years in the city. This would be based on the lines of the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London, Sydney Westmead Children’s Hospital in Australia, and the Queen Charlotte’s Hospital for Women, London.
To be located near the Pune-Bangalore bypass on eight hectares, the hospital is being set up by Tanveer Inamdar, chief executive officer of Tain Constructions, in medical and technical collaboration with Health Systems Ltd, UK. “We are investing around Rs 60 crore and should be operational by 2010,” Inamdar said. The architecture is being done by Christopher Charles Benninger.
Paediatric surgeon B.S. Ratta, who will head the child health services in the hospital, said the aim is to be a quaternary referral centre for all women and children - related problems in the country.
Inamdar said the set-up would have a mall, multiplex and a garden — all aimed to counter anxiety among patients’ relatives.

Hyundai Motor Co. plans to set up a light commercial vehicle plant in Maharashtra that will initially build one-tonne trucks, the Business Line paper said on Monday.

The plant will be located on 700 acres of land near Pune, the paper said, citing sources close to the development. The company may also set up a powertrain facility to build engines and gearboxes, it said.

A spokeswoman for Hyundai Motor India declined comment.

Hyundai, the second-biggest car maker in India, has said before it was studying the Indian market for trucks and buses, which is dominated by Tata Motors Ltd.

Ashok Leyland Ltd. and smaller rivals Eicher Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. also compete.

The potential of India's rapidly expanding economy has also drawn foreign firms. Mahindra has a joint venture with Navistar International for truck and buses, while MAN AG has a deal with Force Motors Ltd.

Hyundai is setting up a second car plant in Chennai to double its capacity to 600,000 units by end-2007. It is also building an engine and transmission plant there with a capacity of at least 400,000 units.

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2007-03-05T092108Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-289984-1.xml

^^ supposedly a false report..........has been denied by the officials of hyundai stating that they had no such plans..........

^^ supposedly a false report..........has been denied by the officials of hyundai stating that they had no such plans..........


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Auto/Hyundai_denies_report_on_truck_plant/articleshow/1724814.cms

Express News Service

Pune, March 6: Close on the heels of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram announcing Rs 50 crore to spruce up Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex at Balewadi for the Commonwealth Youth Games, the city got another financial boost with the Centre clearing Rs 270 crore for improving the infrastructure.
The central steering committee under the Urban Development Department sanctioned the funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) on Monday for city development before the Youth Games in 2008.



“The funds will be utilised to improve road connectivity and traffic condition in the city,” municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer said.

The main purpose is to provide connectivity between Lohegaon airport, Balewadi, Nehru Stadium near Swargate and railway station by having road corridors.

“The funds will largely be used for road works for connecting these places.

Besides, it will also fund construction of 11 parking termini for the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project,” Member of Parliament Suresh Kalmadi said.

In addition, subways and footpaths would also be constructed. For smooth flow of traffic, the proposal aims to set up a traffic control system that includes synchronised signals and cameras.

Though the Pune Municipal Corporation has sent Rs 476-crore proposal to the Centre for improving the city’s infrastructure for the Commonwealth Youth Games to be held in October 2008, only Rs 270 crore has been sanctioned till now.

Kalmadi said the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) was vetting an Rs 100-crore proposal for construction of bridges and reducing traffic congestion.

“The bridges are supposed to come up at Yerawada, Sangamwadi and Kamgar Putla and a clover leaf pattern construction is being planned at Ramwadi to reduce traffic congestion on the new airport road,” he added.


http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=225295

This sounds like good news. But do you think it's possible to construct all of this by 2008. And since its been more than a year since the CYG 2008 has been announced, why is everyone suddenly springing into action now ? (Maybe elections in 2008-09 ??)

Sandvik Asia Limited (Sandvik), the wholly-owned India subsidiary of the $8-billion Swedish group Sandvik, on Wednesday announced its plans to set up a research and development centre in India.

The new R&D modeling centre to be fully operational by the first quarter of 2008 will strengthen Sandvik’s competence in Materials Technology, a press release said.

A new building equipped with state-of-the-art modeling systems and connectivity with Sweden will house the centre on SAL premises in Pune.

To be Sandvik Materials Technology’s first international R&D extension outside Sweden, it will complement and supplement projects of central R&D in Sweden as an integral part of the group’s research efforts.

Peter Gossas, president, Sandvik Materials Technology, said, “India ranks high in research capabilities both from competence and cost point of view. The new centre in Pune will showcase the local representation of modeling experts in Asia, where the market is surging with a rapid pace.”

Sandvik’s managing director and president Hakan Kingstedt said, “The new R&D centre will utilize the research infrastructure in Pune and elsewhere in India. Sandvik will be looking at establishing India as a global hub for knowledge sourcing by starting this project.”

http://business-standard.com/search/storypage_new.php?leftnm=1&leftindx=1&subLeft=1&autono=273970

Lifestyle opens first store in Pune (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/09/stories/2007030902722100.htm)


Lifestyle International (P) Ltd, has opened its first store in Pune.

Talking to presspersons, Mr Kabir Lumba, Executive Director, Lifestyle said the 70,000 sq ft store would offer customers product categories, apparel, footwear and travel accessories, home decor and furniture, infant wear and basics, cosmetics and perfumes. The store has taken in an investment of Rs 10 crore.

Mr Kabir said the highlight of the store would be the stand-alone `home centre by lifestyle', spread over 20,000 sq ft and would be the one-stop destination for furniture, home decor and soft furnishing. For customer convenience, the shop has been divided into three segments - circulation, retail and island. Talking about expansion plans, he said the company aims to have 35 lifestyle stores, 10 home centre stores in the country within three years. It currently has ten exclusive lifestyle stores and five exclusive home centre stores in the country.

The next Lifestyle would be at in Noida within the next two months. It would be opening locations in Bangalore, NCR and Mumbai by March 2008. He said the company would invest Rs 450 crore for its expansion, which would be from equity, debt and internal accruals. Mr Kabir added that the company, which has a current turnover of Rs 500 crore, is targeting a turnover of Rs 1,500 crore within the next three years.

Pune: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has invited bids to start the Wi-Max service along the Pune-Mumbai highway. Global tenders have been invited for the project. Around 22 representatives from companies and municipal officials participated in a pre-bid meeting at the PCMC main office.
Additional commissioner Dilip Gawde said that the civic administration intended to extend the wi-max service all over the township in phases. Residents will also get cable TV through Wi-Max at cheaper rates. The PCMC is connecting 57 municipal offices through wireless network in the first phase.

Sports facilities for Cantonment waits for Southern Command nod

Manu Pubby

Pune, March 9: The two-decade wait for indoor sporting facilities in Pune cantonment finally seems to be over with the defence ministry clearing funds for the first phase of constructing a sports stadium at Golibar Maidan. The ministry has vetted the project and given its approval for allotting Rs 2.34 crore for the first phase of the indoor stadium. The proposed stadium, with a swimming pool, athletic tracks, basketball court, tennis court, yoga centre and clubhouse, has been projected to cost Rs 4 crore.

While the Engineer-in-Chief from defence headquarters has vetted the project, it has now been put up for final clearance before the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, Lt Gen Aditya Kapur. Confirming the development, PCB CEO SK Sardana said work would start after approval from Southern Command.



In a big boost for cantonment residents, who do not have access to even a public swimming pool, the stadium will provide affordable sporting facilities at a convenient location. The indoor stadium will cover the Kakasaheb Gadge sports ground (Golibar Maidan) and will have parking facility, office space as well as gyms for sportspersons.

According to sources, construction would not start until next year with a round of formalities to be followed, including issuing of tenders and appointing consultants for the work. The defence ministry will clear the second phase of funds, amounting to Rs 1.12 crores, only after construction work for the first phase starts, sources said.

“We have been trying for the past 20 years to get funds for the stadium. Cantonment residents will have access to indoor sports facilities,” PCB nominated member Vinod Mathurawala said.


http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=225859

Vishwas Kothari | TNN

Pune: The city’s success story in information technology (IT) remains steadfast with its software exports for 2006-07 set to touch Rs 12,000 crore by the end of March.

This represents a more than 30 per cent growth over last year. Pune’s IT exports for 2005-06 stood at Rs 9,423 crore. As many as 82 new IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) firms set up base here by the end of February. Collectively, these companies contributed Rs 100 crore in investments and have a 22,000-plus manpower projection for the next five years.
“These are conservative manpower estimates as our experience shows that it takes barely two years for companies to meet such projections considering the demand that drives IT business,” P. Venugopal, director (Maharashtra), Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), told TOI.
The STPI is a society set up by the ministry of communication and information technology for encouraging, promoting and boosting software exports.
Ve nu g o p a l sounded confident that enrolment of new IT and ITeS companies in Pune would cross the century mark for the fourth year in succession by the end of March.



http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2907/getimageod4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/17/stories/2007031702491100.htm


INA Bearings opens unit in Talegaon Our Bureau




Pune March 16 INA Bearings India Pvt Ltd, a division of the € 8.3-billion Schaeffler Group, inaugurated its new plant at Talegaon on Friday.

The company, which has been operating from rented premises at Pirangut since 2001, shifted its three existing product lines — plastic and steel cages, drawn cup bearings and engine components — to the new premises.

Addition of a welded cage line is expected soon, so also a new product line for water pump bearings is expected in the coming months.

Stating that they were "in the country for the country'', Mr Hans Jurgen Goslar, Executive Vice-President, and Chief Operating Officer, Schaeffler Group, said the plant, which has an installed capacity of 40 million components annually, will cater essentially to domestic demand from two-wheeler and four-wheeler manufacturers. Two more plants can be built in the existing space to enhance capacity if need be, he added.

Structural details


Mr Biswarup Dhar, Managing Director, Schaeffler Group, and head of the Talegaon facility, said the company expected to touch capacity production by the middle of 2008. As per projections, the turnover which stood at Rs 135 crore in 2006, will double in the next three years.

Talegaon plant has 18,000 sq m of manufacturing area, 350 employees and will call for an investment of Rs 225 crore by the middle of 2008. Its clients include manufacturers such as Toyota, Hyundai, Fiat, Hero Honda and Bajaj. An engineering and test centre is also being set up on the location to tailor-make products for the Indian market.

Schaeffler Group plans to invest Rs 600-650 crore in INA Bearings and its other two installations in India — FAG at Baroda and LuK at Hosur — over the next three years, Ms Maria Elisabeth Scheffler, partner and chairman of the supervisory board, Schaeffler KG, said.

The group's turnover for the year ending December 2007 is pegged at Rs 1,000 crore.

Kalpana Pathak / Mumbai March 19, 2007


The University of Adelaide, Australia, will soon set up India’s first wine institute at Narayangaon, 80 km from Pune, Maharashtra, in association with India’s largest wine-making company, Champagne Indage.

University of Adelaide, regarded as one of the world’s best centres of excellence for education and research in viticulture and oenology (the science of viniculture) is currently drafting the curriculum for the institute.

The institute will be called The Indian Institute of Vine and Wine and will be set up on a 100 acre land with an investment of Rs 100 crore. Champagne Indage and the University of Adelaide, world-renowned university which offers courses in wine-making, have already signed an MoU to set up the institute.

The institute will be operational by 2008. It will offer a three-year diploma programme (from 10th level), a four-year degree programme and two-year masters degree programme in various areas of wine-making, marketing, finance and vine-growing. It will also facilitate research in the field of wine-making.

The degree will be awarded by University of Adelaide and would not only be valid in India and Australia, but all over the world. The students would be required to move to Australia during their last semester and would also appear for exams in Australia. “This will help the industry to provide with trained technicians, laboratory workers, wine makers and viticulturists to work for the growing Indian wine market,” said S G Chougule, chairman, Indage Group of Companies.

A wine maker can start his career with a salary between Rs 30,000-50,000 per month. One can draw over Rs 1.5 lakh per month based on his experience in the industry. By the year 2020, it is expected that India’s wine industry will require 10,000 skilled viticulturists (vine growers), 5,000 winery staff operators, 1,000 wine makers (graduates), 500 wine maker experts (post graduates), 2,500 wine marketing (graduates) and 1,000 wine finance (graduates).

But as compared to the demand, the supply, clearly, is inadequate. The Indian wine market stands at Rs 450 crore in value terms.



http://www.business-standard.com/search/storypage_new.php?leftnm=6&leftindx=6&subLeft=8&autono=278043

Vascon to set up 4-star hotel at Balewadi

Express News Service

Pune, March 20: A 4-STAR business hotel Holiday Inn Pune, to be managed by Inter Continental Hotels Group (IHG), will come up near the Balewadi stadium and will be functional in 18 months, coinciding with the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Spread over three acres of land, the Rs 150-crore project will have 250 rooms, out of which 175 have been planned for the first phase of the project, while the rest will be added in the second phase.



The hotel will have state-of-the-art facilities such as health club, meeting rooms, business centre, 24-hour restaurants, swimming pool, multi-cuisine and theme restaurants, bar lounge, according to a press release issued by Vascon Engineers on Tuesday.

According to Vascon Engineers chairman R Vasudevan, “We plan to complete construction of Phase I and have the hotel in an operational mode before October 2008. Currently, there is a shortage of 2,000 rooms in Pune and Vascon plans to add at least 1,500 rooms in the next two to three years.”

Pune is hosting Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) in 2008 and the increase in investments and large number of companies coming to Pune has shot up the need for more business hotels. Holiday Inn Pune will cater to growing businesses in western Pune.

Vascon, Pristine and Jasper Developers are jointly promoting the venture. Vascon Engineers is already constructing the Hyatt Regency with about 250 rooms plus 75 service apartments that will be ready by March 2008, on Nagar Road.

Apart from this, they have tied up with Royal Orchid to manage 105 rooms and 80 service apartments coming up in Kalyani Nagar and starting operations from April onwards.

Wi-Max in PMC building, Sambhaji Park next week

Express News Service

Pune, March 22: The Pune Municipal Corporation’s headquarters at Shivajinagar and Sambhaji Park will go wireless by next week. Running the ‘Wi-Max’ project on the experimental basis, the PMC will implement the trial runs at the civic headquarters and Sambhaji Park. Micro Sense Private Limited is implementing the project for PMC.

Deputy municipal commissioner Ambrish Galinde said it is not decided whether any commercial rate will be charged for the users during the experiment. “ Users can log on to the internet directly without paying any charges. However this will be valid till the experiment is completed. Installation of equipment to make these two places wireless is in final stages. This project is part of the PMC’s Unwired Pune which aims to make Pune a wireless city,” he said. In the first phase, a 20 km area of Shivajinagar, Deccan Gymkhana, Baner and Aundh will be wireless by June. Users will have to pay Rs 250 for 100 hours.


http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=228031

Cognizant to add 2,000 heads

Express News Service

Pune, March 23: Leading provider of IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) services Cognizant is bullish on Pune and plans to ramp up its headcount by 2,000 to reach 6,500 professionals by December this year.

To cater to the increased manpower requirement, the company has firmed up additional leased facility at ISH InfoTech measuring 1.8 lakh sq ft, adjacent to Cognizant’s Hinjewadi techno-complex. This facility will have a capacity to accommodate about 1,600 professionals. In addition, the company is also in the process of finalising the acquisition of 30 acre at phase-III of Hinjewadi to provide further growth capacity in the city.



“We have grown faster than the industry over the last several years and our investment in Pune reinforces our confidence in our future growth plans for the city,” Cognizant president and managing director R Chandrasekaran said.

“Our Pune centre has been tracking as per our plans and contributes strategically to our growth. We have scaled up to approximately 4,500 professionals in Pune and are committed to grow this centre by tapping into the rich talent pool available in the western part of India. The Pune development centre’s focus on three high growth industry segments — financial services, manufacturing and life sciences — has enabled us to build stronger customer businesses here,” vice-president and head of Pune operations Debashis Chatterjee said.

Cognizant has notched up 87.9 per cent growth in healthcare and life sciences segment and 54.2 per cent in financial services. These verticals together account for 71 per cent of Cognizant’s revenues of $1.424 billion, Chandrasekaran said. For 2007, the company has forecast revenues of $2.040 billion and a net addition of 17,200 people to take its global headcount to 56,000.

“About 75 per cent of our global workforce is in India across Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Coimbatore and most recently added Kochi,” he said.

On countrywide expansion plans, Chandrasekaran said Cognizant had planned investments of $200 million in India this year. The company would also be setting up a near-shore centre in Eastern Europe by December this year, to cater to its clients in that region.

The company said its future expansion would not be centered on the Software Technology Parks (STP). “Since the sunset period for these STPs is fast approaching, we have decided not to invest in them,” director R Ramkumar said.

Soraj Group makes foray into hotel segment

Express News Service

Pune, March 28: CITY-based Soraj Group, builders of commercial complexes, on Wednesday, announced their decision to enter the hotels segment. The group has six hotels planned for the city in a period of 30 months totalling an investment of Rs 265 crore. The first hotel from its repertoire — St Laurn — located in Koregaon Park, will begin operations from the first week of April.

The other hotels in the pipeline are a 4-star business hotel at Hinjewadi, St Laurn Courtyard at Mundhwa, another 4-star business hotel at Mundhwa, and three others at Talegaon, Pimpri- Chinchwad and Chakan. The hotels in Hinjewadi and Mundhwa will be operational by the last quarter of this year and by end of 2008 respectively.



“The idea is to reach out to virgin markets and create a niche. Our hotels will cater to the growing demand in the city,” said managing director of St Laurn Hotels , Lakshman Kariyaa.

The hotels will be specifically catering to business conferences and related activities.

The company also has plans for ventures at Bangalore,Indore and Surat.




http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=228971

SIDA to give 5 m krona for Pune

Express News Service

Pune, March 30: After having recently got approval of Rs 1,000 crore loan from Japan Bank, it is the turn of Sweden to source funds for Pune’s development. The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) has agreed to fund the technical mobility plan for land use planning of Pune. For this the SIDA will provide funds to the tune of 5 million Swedish Krona.

When contacted Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer confirmed the report. “The funding was approved in a meeting between the Government of India and the Swedish government,” Kareer told Pune Newsline from Delhi.

Tata Motors, Fiat JV to generate 24,000 jobs

Ranjangaon (Maha), April 2: Tata Motors, the country's top automobile firm, and Italian firm Fiat Group plan to invest Rs 4,000 crore in their new automobile plant that will generate 24,000 jobs.

The factory near Pune was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

"This factory, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata and Fiat, would create 4,000 direct and 20,000 indirect jobs," Fiat Auto Vice-President Stefan Ketter told reporters.

The plant would have the capacity to produce one lakh cars and two lakh engines per year, he said.

Next year, the Italian auto major would start producing its international models from the Ranjangaon factory, Ketter said.

Wipro ramps up Pune operations (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/04/stories/2007040402540400.htm)


Wipro Technologies, global IT services business of Wipro Ltd, today announced the inauguration of Phase II of its development centre at Hinjewadi in Pune.

Mr Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Ltd, said the development centre is being set up at an investment of Rs 375 crore and ramp up its capacity to around 17,000 seats from the current 6,300. The investment would be spread over three to five years. The facility, when completed, would house 50 labs and a 1,000-seater training centre.

The Pune development centre would become Wipro's second largest IT centre in the country after Bangalore.

The centre includes a remote infrastrucuture management centre for managed services. He said Wipro would launch three competencies centre at its Pune centre soon

Pune's wireless project targets municipal schools (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/04/stories/2007040401462100.htm)


Pune, bypassing Bangalore and Hyderabad (preferred IT destinations), has become the first wireless city in the country with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Microsense and Intel Technology Pvt Ltd joining hands to commercially roll out the first phase of the 802.16d Wi-Fi and WiMax network in the city.

Mr R. Sivakumar, Managing Director of Intel, South Asia, said that Intel has received request for proposal from these locations. Intel is the technical consultant (on architecture) for this project, which is a private-public partnership initiative under PMC. Microsense would be the broadband and network service partner.

Targeting schools

Dr Nitin Kareer, Commissioner of the PMC, said the Phase 1 of `Unwire Pune' projected deployment targets to provide wireless connectivity to an area of 25 sq km covering four locations in the city.

The first phase may be completed within four to six months and the entire project of 250 sq km would be rolled out in the next 12 to 18 months, he added.

The total investment for the entire project is to the tune of Rs 100 crore over the next two years. Dr Kareer said the first phase would also target 30 PMC schools and with the complete deployment all the 300 municipal schools under it would become part of the project.

Mallya plans Mumbai-Pune chopper service

Mumbai, April 5: Mumbai to Pune in 19 minutes flat, promises liquor baron and Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya. His team is now in the process of giving final touches to a business plan that proposes an air link between the financial capital and the satellite city, by utilising the Mahalaxmi and Pune racecourses. The plan is to commence with six daily flights on a 15-seater chopper.
Mallya had initially planned it as an exclusive service for Kingfisher First passengers, however, it has “transcended well beyond a service for first class guests” and will be a scheduled passenger service now.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) base, currently no additional civil flights are allowed at the Pune airport between 6 am and 10 pm.

“Pune is a growing metropolis and desperately requires air connectivity. With IAF continuing to block additional civil flights , we cannot capitalise on this opportunity. But that does not destroy the demand on the route,” said Mallya. He is likely to purchase the choppers either from Eurocopter and Augusta, who have been short-listed for the project.

BRT boost: Centre releases Rs 100 cr


Pune: The Union government last week issued an order to release the first instalment of Rs 100 crore for the BRT project, municipal commissioner Nitin Kareer told TOI.

The PMC had sought a grant of Rs 1,000 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for developing the BRT network in Pune.
In the interim budget for 2007-2008, Kareer had said the government had in principle agreed to release Rs 538.32 crore for executing the project on seven roads. These include road linking Yerwada to Vishrantwadi, Nagar road, Airport road, Mundhwa bypass, Paud road, Sinhagad road and Baner road.
The grants will be used for widening of roads and for preparing the segregated BRT routes on these roads

Reliance Retail in city

Express News Service

Pune, April 11: RELIANCE Retail began operations in Maharashtra with the opening of four pilot Reliance Fresh outlets in the city on Wednesday that will provide fresh fruits and vegetables, groceries, dairy products etc. Apart from the four stores at Sujay Garden, D P Road, Mantra Mall, Salunkhe Vihar and Geetai, four more are slated to open in next month.

CEO, Reliance Retail, Gurinder Kapur said the company was looking for stores with separate entrances so that they could begin to sell non-vegetarian food items after three months. A separate counter will be set up for selling Reliance branded products under the label Reliance Select.



It will be sourcing produce from the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) and has obtained a Grade A licence for the same. Reliance Fresh will also be going to 18 cities in Maharashtra with a network of 125 stores, which will become operational in the next six months, Guninder Kapur, CEO Reliance Retail said.

The Cash and Carry format store that is slated for a launch in Bangalore soon could also find its way to Pune.

Pune’s software exports grow at 66 per cent, touch Rs 15,150 cr

Of 1,000 new firms in India, 114 set shop here

Express News Service

Pune, April 13: Pune's software exports have hit the high growth trajectory, fetching up at Rs 15,150 crore for the fiscal gone by, a 66 per cent growth over the 2005-06 when it was a modest Rs 9,100 crore.

“Pune’s growth rate of 66 per cent is way above Bangalore’s 34 per cent. It is among the top five software destinations in India as the aggregate billing by the companies this year been on the rise,” P Venugopal, STPI director, Pune and Navi Mumbai said.



Of the 1,000-odd new companies that have been registered in India during this fiscal, 114 companies have set shop in Pune and are projected to contribute exports worth Rs 5,168 crore in the coming five years generating 38,000 jobs in the industry. As on date, there are 7,688 software companies in India of which 708 are located in the city.

The statistics are quite revealing — of the top 20 software companies in India, 11 companies have operations in Pune. The number of multinationals wanting to set up base in Pune is increasing. “There were 13 MNCs registered in Pune in 2005-06 and now the figure is up to 20,” Venugopal said, while speaking at the Dewang Mehta Memorial annual lecture here on Friday.

One significant growth area was the BPO sector, with eight out of 12 BPOs in Maharashtra being located at Pune. The outsourcing trend was set to continue as countries like the USA and the UK manage to save 0.67 per cent per dollar that they spent in India, he said.

“India started as a low cost destination and continues to retain the top slot. As compared to the Philippines, Malaysia, Russia and Korea, western countries still prefer to outsource work to India,” he said, adding that Maharashtra was the only state to have 143 private IT parks in India. Significantly, 83 of these were located in Pune. The city began with exports of Rs 2,000 crore in 2001-02 and over the next five years it has gone to Rs 15,150 crore. The companies that are coming to Pune include those wanting to set up back office operations, companies managing insurance, infrastructure management and processing photography.

Ghanshyam Das, Managing Director, Nasdaq, said many Indian companies were positioned to become global players and go in for an overseas listing. “India’s market cap is around $ 600 billion and it is among the fastest growing economies. Indian markets are well regulated and around 150 Indian companies are USA GAP compliant and this includes 15 PSUs as well,” Das said.

Ashank Desai, founder and past chairman, Mastek Ltd said India would face a resource challenge soon in the IT industry: “The requirements for resources is expected to touch four million in 2014 from the existing 1.6 million people now.”

However, Desai sounded a note of caution about Pune’s growth and said infrastructure could pose a major challenge to the city’s growth. The industry should come forward through the public-private partnership route and put pressure on the government to take corrective measures, he said.



Pune’s software exports grow at 66 per cent, touch Rs 15,150 cr

Any updates on the Pune international airport. Any updates on when the work will actually begin?

^^ Its still awaiting permission from the Indian Air Force i guess.


5 months, 15,000 jobs: Auto-component sector sets eyes on the future

Plaban Gupta

Pune, April 15: Here’s good news for welders, fitters, mechanics and the other blue-collared workers, who are the backroom boys of global automobile giants General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, Fiat and Tata Motors. According to industry estimates and headhunters, the auto-component sector in Pune will need 15,000-20,000 people in the next five months.
Consider this. Bangalore-based staffing solution company TeamLease Contact Service (TLCS), the blue collar employment unit of TeamLease Services Private Limited, bagged four new clients from the auto ancillary industry based in Pune last month. The new contracts allow the creation of 2,000 new jobs in the next 2 months.



“The auto-component industry is growing faster than the automobile sector. The components are in high demand in Europe particularly in Germany and Italy due to consistency in supplying quality components,” says Rishi Bagla of the Rs 350-crore Aurangabad-based auto components manufacturer, Bagla Group.

Chairman of city-based RSB group, R K Behera says it is because of the faith that automobile giants have in Pune’s auto-component sector.

“In the past one year, every major automobile giant and the auto-component industries are either setting up greenfield projects or expanding their existing capacity. Availability of quality skilled manpower and Pune’s tradition as a manufacturing hub have contributed to its growing auto component sector,” Behera says. Other factors like proximity to Mumbai and connectivity has helped too.

Once an automobile giant comes to Pune, ancillary units and companies closely associated with it toe the line. DSM Engineering Plastics (manufacturing polyamide and polyester pellets) that supplies to the Tatas invested $20 million to set up a greenfield facility at Ranjangaon recently.

Kalyani Lemmerz has expanded its existing facility in manufacturing steel wheels for commercial vehicles apart from setting up a new factory to enter the passenger car segment through its steel wheels.

Most of the jobs in the sector will be blue-collared ones with demand particularly sky-rocketing for welders, fitters, and mechanics which starting salaries depending on the qualification. According to industry sources, a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering will get around Rs 5,000 while an ITI-trained professional can expect Rs 3,000-3,500.

Global Graphics launches development centre in Pune

Express News Service

Pune, April 17: GLOBAL Graphics Software, a leading developer of software used in printing and publishing has established a wholly-owned subsidiary company, Global Graphics Software (India) Pvt Ltd and launched its development centre in Pune recently. The Pune centre will jointly undertake the development, quality assurance and software testing work with the teams in the UK and the US.

More than twenty software engineering staff now work in the Pune office. Expansion is set to continue with Global Graphics planning to double the number people working in Pune by 2007-end.



The Pune office is involved in the development and testing of both Global Graphics’ RIP (Raster Image Processor) which converts text and images into a printable form that is used extensively in newspaper production and commercial printing throughout the world and electronic document technology.

The RIP technology is used in a variety of applications including in pre-press equipment and workflow solutions for commercial printing, as well as in high-speed digital presses, networked copiers and printers used in the office and consumer inkjet printers.

Jim Freidah, chief operating officer comments, “We are an international company, with offices in the UK, US and Japan, and our customers serve an international client base. There is an increasing demand for our software inside pre-press equipment and workflow solutions, digital printers and copiers, and software applications for document management and content creation solutions.”

Global Graphics’ electronic document technology is used by developers of document management and archival systems to add specific functions within their applications such as document creation, conversion of documents from one format to another, merging documents together from different sources, marking up documents and filling in forms.

Arun Bhardwaj, director of Global Graphics’ Pune development centre says, “These are very exciting times for Global Graphics because we are gearing up to release the next generation of our digital print and electronic document technology”.

Their customers include Microsoft, HP, Agfa, Kodak, Quark and Fuji Xerox.

The Traffic at the university circle flyover
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/5614/p1zk5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

While

270 sq ft flats: State dithers, PCMC steals the thunder

As PCMC gets ready to rehabilitate slums dwellers under SRA scheme, it has Milindnagar project to look up to

Manoj More

Pune, April 17: WHEN slum-dweller Sarika Shivram moved into a flat in the Milindnagar area of Pimpri, it was a dream come true. “Today, if anybody tries to drive me out of this flat, I will never go... this is my house,” says Sarika.

Vaishali Kadam, who stays in the neighbourhood, too defends Milindnagar. “Our flats have the basic amenities,” she says.


IT'S this pride that other residents of the Milindnagar Slum Rehabilitation Plan share-- the move from a hut to a high-rise.

In July 2005, 882 families in slums moved into 270-square feet flats given to them by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) under its slum rehabilitation project set up under the Central Government’s Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana. The project is now being touted as a model for the civic body gearing up to rehabilitate five big slums under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). This, while the State government is debating whether the flats should be of 270 square feet or more.

The PCMC's assistant municipal commissioner Sudhir Joshi says the Milindnagar project was set up on an 11-acre land. “Up to 24 cooperative housing societies were established so residents would ensure the maintenance of the flats and buildings.”

The objective was to rehabilitate slum-dwellers and uplift their standard of living, which the PCMC claims, was achieved to a large extent. “Every society has a water tank, ample parking space and we have installed electricity meters for every flat,” says Joshi.

Arjun Kadam, chairman of the Annabhau Sathe cooperative society, says every flat owner is required to pay Rs 100 as charges. “This helps us keep the premises neat and ensure continuous amenities. So far, owners have been regular in paying up.”

On rehabilitation, these residents were supposed to pay Rs 10,000 to the PCMC, but many have not paid for a flat that today costs Rs 3 lakh.

“We have tied up with a bank which will give the residents Rs 10,000 as loan. The monthly installment comes only to around Rs 300,” says Joshi.

To prevent the residents from disposing of their flats, the PCMC has sounded the Joint District Registrar. “We have requested the JDR not to allow any transaction from Pimpri's Milindnagar Slum Rehabilitation Project.”

Municipal commissioner Dilip Band says future slum rehabilitation projects would be even better. “At Ajanthanagar, we rehabilitated 550 families which is an equally outstanding project,” he says.

The only hitch in the project was it took eight years for completion because of litigation between two builders. “It was not the PCMC's fault. The cost soared from Rs 3.59 crore to Rs 16 crore,” says Joshi.

Benefited with hindsight, the PCMC is confident that Phase II of the project along with the other rehabilitation projects under JNNURM will not suffer.

“We are geared up to resettle slum-dwellers in posh flats without any problems,” says Band.





http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=232194

Ascendas to devolope Tech Park in Pune

Ascendas, a Singapore-based business space solutions provider, said it would invest Rs 1,625 crore to develop two international technology parks in Maharashtra over the next seven years.

The parks will be developed in joint venture with Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation or MIDC and Maharashtra Airport Development Company or MADC.

The two mega-projects will come up in Pune and Nagpur. On completion, the International Tech Park, Pune, and International Tech Park, Nagpur, will together accommodate 70,000 people. In Pune, 2.5 million sq. ft. of built up space will spread across 25 acres, to be completed in five phases. This park will be undertaken under Phase III of Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park in Hinjewadi, at an investment of Rs 600 crore.
While the Singapore company will invest 74 per cent in this project, MIDC will be a 26 per cent equity partner, offering land.

Similarly for the Nagpur project which would be worth Rs 1,025 crore, MADC will hold 11 per cent of the equity, and Ascendas 89 per cent.

This project will consist of 4.5 million sq. ft. of built up space on a 63-acre site within the upcoming Multi-Modal International Hub Airport or MIHAN.

The first phase of construction for both the projects is expected to begin by mid 2007 and is likely to be completed by mid next year, Ms Chong Siak Ching, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ascendas Pte Ltd, told newspersons on Wednesday.



http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/19/stories/2007041904102100.htm

MINDCREST LAUNCHES 400-SEAT FACILITY IN PUNE TO HIRE LAWYERS

Boost in legal process outsourcing

Express News Service

Pune, April 20: MINDCREST, a legal outsourcing firm, announced the launch of its new 400-seat facility in Pune on Thursday to hire lawyers. The company provides legal support across the enterprise in the US, Canada and the UK in finance, human resources, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, sales and marketing, procurement, manufacturing and legal.

Ganesh Natarajan, co-founder and CEO of Mindcrest said, “This is another step towards achieving our goal of investing in the high growth LPO sector. The centre being set up in Pune will form the core for the delivery of Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) services and we hope to learn and add more and more value-added services to the current LPO offering.



“According to a study by the US-based Forrester Research, the current annual value of legal outsourcing which is worth $80 million can rise up to $4 billion in India by 2015, hence Mindcrest is set to go for the next level of growth” he added.

George B Hefferan III, vice president, Mindcrest, said, “There are immense opportunities in LPO services in the legal markets. This presents a huge opportunity for India in terms of employment generation and wealth creation for its skilled labour pool. Mindcrest’s approach and focus on next generation values will allow it to create a niche for itself and become the industry leader.”

“We are confident that the team will be able to profitably deploy the capital resources we are providing, and continue its growth, in the LPO market. We believe that Mindcrest represents the next generation of BPO companies, with a focus on complex functions requiring high levels of analytical, problem solving and communications skills,” said Rohan Dalal,Mindcrest MD.

About Mindcrest
Mindcrest is a legal services company with offshore operations. It began operations in 2001 and is in the offshore legal services arena. Mindcrest performs a variety of law related services for corporations and law firms, including Fortune 500 companies. Mindcrest is the brain child of a multi-national founder team consisting of two Indian nationals and one US citizen - Ganesh Natarajan (Co-founder & CEO), Rohan Dalal (MD), George B Hefferan III (Vice President).



http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=232625

BoB unveils India's first GenNext bank

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2007 12:40:32 AM]

PUNE: Ever heard of a bank setting up a jazzy branch for Gen Next ? A place where youngsters can walk into a "Yo zone" to watch a movie. They can also choose to surf the net, read a book or relax in the lounge and do some banking as well.

State-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) has turned trail-blazer opening the first ever Gen Next branch in the country in Pune. Why Pune? No prizes for guessing. The growing student population - estimated at over 5 lakhs-makes the city one of the most attractive destinations for banks trying to tap potential customers.

Special products - Gen Next Life Style, Gen Next Power, Gen Next Suvidha and Gen Next Junior - have been designed for this segment which will only be available at this branch, said Anil K Khandelwal, CMD Bank of Baroda. According to him, Gen Next branch is a concept that the bank is experimenting with.

The he leg work for this was done entirely by four youngsters in the bank. Such branches will be rolled out in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, LucKnow, Japiur, Ahmedabad, Baroda during the year.

India is reaping the benefits of demographic bulge, with 65% of the country's population below 35 years of age. So there is no reason why banks should not target Gen Next, reckons Khadelwal.

Of course, while targetting the youth, the branch will also be open to other customers be it corporates, salaried workforce or retired people. BoB is looking at a business of atleast Rs 100 crore a year from such branches. Day one saw a total business of around Rs 27 crore.




http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/BoB_unveils_Indias_first_GenNext_bank/articleshow/1935910.cms

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International Convention Centre, Plot B, Pune
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/884/plotb15ce1aa0rg9.jpg

Already built? Designed by SAA Architects, Singapore.

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Ascendas IT Park II, Pune
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/7350/ascendasitpark15cff75fpv4.jpg

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/3466/ascendasitpark25d01140wk1.jpg

Designed by SAA Architects, Singapore.

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Eco IT Park, Hadaspar, Pune
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/5742/ecoitpark15d0be2axy3.jpg

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/3395/ecoitpark25d0e653qe0.jpg

Designed by SAA Architects, Singapore.

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