Rs 1,200-cr highway to join Pune with industrial hubs

In a bid to support the whopping investment of more than Rs 10,000 crore in and around the Pune city’s automotive industries’ cluster over the last four years, the Maharashtra government has finally decided to construct a six-lane (eastern) highway that connects Talegaon, Chakan and Ranjangaon towns.

The much-awaited project will be developed by the public works department (PWD) over the next two years at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore.

While Pune is gearing up to join the club of metro cities along with Hyderabad, the poor state of infrastructure has been attracting flak from different quarters. Apart from electricity and other civic amenities, transportation has been a major problem.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has already constructed a (western) bypass, which offers connectivity to the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park (Hinjewadi), Pimpri-Chinchwad, Aundh, Baner and Pashan, the information technology hub of Pune.

Towns around Pune such as Talegaon, Chakan, Dehu, Ranjangaon have seen major international automobile players setting up their manufacturing units over the last four years. Names such as Volkswagen, Fiat, General Motors, Tata Motors, Mercedes Benz, Renault, Nissan, Eaton Trucks, JCB, John Deere, Bharat Forge have presence in the Talegaon-Chakan-Ranjangaon belt.

“The new road project will see a six-lane road with a length of 44 kilometre. It will begin from the Mumbai-Bangalore national highway-4, move along Talegaon, Chakan, Ranjangaon, bisect the Pune-Aurangabad state highway and finally reach Pune-Hyderabad national highway-9,” a PWD official, involved with the project, told Business Standard.

The government has finalised the tender procedure and the work orders have been issued. The construction is expected to begin from April onwards and will continue for two years, the official stated. “Better road connectivity will help the industrial establishments produce better results, save fuel as well as curcial time,” he added.