The Maharashtra government will seek Rs 5,000 crore from the Centre to establish the Pune Growth Hub, an initiative intended to accelerate economic development across the Pune Metropolitan Region. Deputy Chief Minister and Pune’s Guardian Minister Sunetra Ajit Pawar said the master plan would be submitted to the Union government by the end of November.
“The master plan of Pune Growth Hub will be submitted to the union government by the end of November; a demand would also be placed for funds of Rs 5,000 crores in the first phase,” Pawar said after reviewing the progress of the initiative.
The proposed funding is linked to the first phase of the Growth Hub plan. According to officials, the plan is being prepared to position Pune as a global economic centre through coordinated development across the metropolitan region. The announcement does not specify the Centre’s funding mechanism, the release schedule or the projects that would be financed through the proposed allocation.
The development plan is being prepared around opportunities in multiple sectors, including industry, information technology, automobiles, education, aviation, healthcare, agriculture and research. These sectors form the basis of the proposed strategy for expanding Pune’s economic role, although details of individual projects and implementation timelines have not yet been announced.
Pawar reviewed the plan at a meeting attended by senior officials from institutions responsible for infrastructure, municipal administration and regional development. Participants included Sixth State Finance Commission Chairman Nitin Karir, Divisional Commissioner Sheetal Teli-Ugle, Mahametro Managing Director Shravan Hardikar, Pune Municipal Corporation Commissioner Naval Kishor Ram, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation Commissioner Vijay Suryavanshi and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority Commissioner Abhijit Chaudhary.
Pune District Collector Jitendra Dudi and Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Gajanan Patil also attended the review meeting. The participation of the two municipal corporations, PMRDA, Mahametro and district-level authorities indicates that the proposed plan is being prepared at the scale of the wider metropolitan region rather than for Pune city alone.
The Pune Growth Hub is part of a wider initiative of NITI Aayog being implemented in cities including Mumbai, Surat, Varanasi, Visakhapatnam and Pune. Maharashtra government, NITI Aayog and Pune International Centre signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the initiative in August last year.
The proposed hub therefore combines an economic development programme with metropolitan planning. Its implementation will depend on the final master plan, the Centre’s response to the funding request and coordination among the state government, local bodies and regional agencies. The immediate milestone is the submission of the development plan to the Union government by the end of November.
