IT firms to brand Pune Metro stations @45 crore each
According to PMRDA commissioner Kiran Gitte, the proposal forwarded by the planning authority has got a good response with IT giants like Infosys coming forward to sign the deal
Metro stations planned for the IT park will be branded by software companies as the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) plans to raise money by selling the branding of stations.
While the IT companies, according to PMRDA officials, have expressed a willingness to accept the proposal, they have also been asked to consider changing the work timings as per the Metro rail schedule once the project becomes operational on the Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar route.
According to PMRDA commissioner Kiran Gitte, the proposal forwarded by the planning authority has got a good response with IT giants like Infosys coming forward to sign the deal.
“We will be naming stations coming up in the Hinjewadi IT park after IT companies who are willing to accept our proposal of branding. As of now, Infosys has accepted our proposal,” Gitte said.
According to Gitte the cost bearing the entire cost of setting up a metro station is in the region of Rs 45 crore.
The branding will either allow private companies to bear the entire cost of the station or pay for a lease.
The PMRDA commissioner also spoke about a change in the work timings of IT firms once the metro becomes operational.
“We have told IT companies that they will have to keep the work timings in consonance with the train schedule to utilise the service at its optimum level,” said Gitte. Of the 23 stations planned on the Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar route, there are six stations planned for Hinjewadi.
Gitte said the PMRDA will appoint a transaction advisor by Friday, August 4, to facilitate signing of agreements with private partners willing to construct the metro rail project on a public-private partnership basis.
The PMRDA has already initiated the process of finalising the private players to build the 23-km long project. According to Gitte, by December, one of three firms, which include Tata-Siemens, ILFS and IRB, will be finalised.
Time’s up for illegal structures
The Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) officials said action will soon begin against illegal structures alongside the proposed ring road. “I met the police commissioner of Pune and sought protection while carrying out action against illegal structures along the ring road,” said PMRDA commissioner Kiran Gitte. The PMRDA has already acted against 63 illegal structures in its territory.