Pune Smart City proposes to scrap PPP projects

Pune Smart City

Taking a tough call on the slow pace of work on projects under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited (PSCDCL) has proposed scrapping of a majority of the projects taken up in the city through this route.

Pune Smart CityThe decision was taken after an audit report by PSCDCL last month pointed out that merely 5 of the 41 projects, or just 12 percent, started under the PPP initiative have been completed or nearing completion.

PSCDCL has also started a re-evaluation process to check the feasibility of the projects that were to be developed through the PPP route.

The projects that have been shortlisted for scrapping include the transit hub in Balewadi, and parking facilities. PSCDCL has proposed that Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) should take over the transit hub in Balewadi.

According to PSCDCL chief executive officer and additional commissioner of PMC Rubal Agrawal, little or no progress was made on the PPP projects owing to several reasons, including two agencies claiming the same land to develop their projects, lack of funding and PSCDCL’s short tenure of only five years. “Considering this, if PMC takes over major projects like the transit hub, then it might actually come to fruition.”