Maha CM Launches Pune’s Hitech City Project

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on November 16 launched the Hitech City Project in Pune, one of the largest townships being developed by the government in the state. The project is slated to have a potential of attracting investment worth Rs 21,300 crore. The residential-cum-commercial project is aimed at creating a job opportunities and alongside residential options for the workforce. This project is the first under the state’s township planning scheme and will work as a model for 13 such townships to be developed in the future.

The project will be developed on the land being pooled by over 5,200 farmers. A large number of these farmers have already signed up and handed over their plots to the government. According to the Pune Metropolitan Development Authority (PMDA), the developing authority of the project, the pooling of land has helped the government to bring down the investment in the project. To develop such a township, it would have spent over Rs 10,000 crore for land acquisition alone. However, land pooling under the state’s Town Planning Scheme.

The project will come up at Mahalunge Maan, lying along the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway. It will be constructed in proximity to the Hinjewadi information technology hub. The township will be spread in an area of 250 hectare, and will have over seven crore square foot (sqft) of developable area. Of this, 38.4 million sqft will be used for residential purposes while 16.5 million sqft will be for commercial space.

As many as 1.5 lakh people will be able to reside in this project. The farmers, who have given their land for the project, will also be given residential units. Over 5,000 affordable housing units will also come up in the township.

The first step in building the project will be to develop physical infrastructure. This work has started on November 16 with an investment of Rs 620 crore. The PMRDA will first construct roads, water supply systems, sewage lines and electrification.