Pune builders float firm to take up local projects

The Promoters and Builders Association Pune (PBAP) has promoted a company, which will participate in the city's infrastructure development by looking at projects on a build-operate-transfer basis.

PBAP vice-president and chairman of Magarpatta City Development Company Limited, Satish Magar told a gathering of the British Business Group here that the newly formed company was an initiative from the city's builders to assist the government machinery in building high quality local infrastructure.

The company, PBAP Ventures Limited, has been registered with an initial share capital of Rs 25 crore, he informed.

"The institutions of local government such as the Pune Municipal Corporation are fund-starved and PBAP Ventures will try and generate the necessary investments to handle the local infrastructure projects such as construction of roads or slum area development to create mass housing," Magar said. He said the initial capital of the company alone can help it generate funds in the area of Rs 250 crore.

The demand for both office space and residential area is shooting up and it will be necessary to create a common infrastructure, he said, adding that the government must cut all delays in sanctioning of the development plans as the city will otherwise run the risk of losing its popularity with the people the world over.

"Going by the pace of the city's growth in IT, IT services, automobile and engineering, there will be a need of 20 million sft of office space by the year 2010 and about 1.5 million sft of residential space by that year," he said.

The growth of the city would also require infrastructure such as education, entertainment, and health.

Magar said the government needs to simplify the rules governing the real estate sector as the present ambiguities and anomalies often result in delays in project completion.

"Formation of an umbrella institution like the Pune Metropolitan and Regional Development Authority will be an important step in this direction," he stressed.