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Infra failed to keep pace with urbanisation in Pune: Fadnavis
Fadnavis on Friday said the government had drawn up a plan to transform the region over the next two years
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Acknowledging that infrastructure development in Pune and the Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR) has failed to keep pace with rapid urbanisation, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the government had drawn up a plan to transform the region over the next two years.
Fadnavis was speaking after inaugurating Magnum Ice Cream’s global business solution centre at Wakad.
He said senior government officials in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad would work together to implement the plan, with execution expected to begin within the next two months.
The plan includes the outer and inner ring roads, high-capacity mass transit routes and tunnels to improve connectivity across Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and the PMR. Work on some projects has already begun, he said.
Fadnavis said the Shivajinagar-Hinjewadi metro corridor was likely to begin operations this month.
His remarks come ahead of a September 6 protest by IT employees over poor roads, traffic congestion and infrastructure problems, particularly in Hinjewadi.
Acknowledging their concerns, Fadnavis said IT employees felt there was “no life” in Hinjewadi. “It is true. But I promise that once the plan is completely implemented, the entire Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad region will be among the most sought-after areas to live and work,” he said.
He said Pune was rapidly emerging as a major Global Capability Centre (GCC) hub, with more than 130 operational centres, and expressed confidence that the number would cross 800 within the next year.
Later, at a separate event, Fadnavis laid the foundation stone for Bajaj Finserv’s new headquarters campus in Pune, in the presence of deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar.
“Mumbai and Pune have become the capitals of the country’s fintech ecosystem,” Fadnavis said, adding that Mumbai attracted 61% of total fintech investment in the first quarter of the fiscal, surpassing Bengaluru. Maharashtra’s fintech startup sector grew 59%, attracting $900 million in investments, he said.
Fadnavis said the fintech ecosystem should be expanded to Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Nagpur, and expressed hope that Bajaj Finserv would soon commence services in Nagpur.
He added that connecting roads and an additional bridge for the Bajaj Finserv campus, expected to accommodate around 40,000 employees, would be completed before the campus is ready.
