Towards an industrialised Pune region

PUNE, July 19: In a major move aimed at giving a boost to the industrial sector in what may well be termed one of the fastest growing reg...

PUNE, July 19: In a major move aimed at giving a boost to the industrial sector in what may well be termed one of the fastest growing regions in South Asia, the government of Maharashtra has proposed to create 22 new industrial estates in the Pune region. The number is more than double the existing number of 19 industrial estates in five districts in the region.

The estates proposed to be set up as a part of State government’s policy for development of industries, will facilitate the setting up of new industries ranging from small scale industries to mega projects in the region. The decision is being dubbed as the State’s ambitious plan to induce large scale industrialisation in the region comparable to the world famous Rand Stad area in Holland.

“The plan of creating new industrial estates has been devised by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and according to the plan the corporation has proposed to acquire land in the identified regions,” said S S Kamble, deputy director of industries, Pune region while speaking to The Indian Express.

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The largest number of eight industrial estates are proposed in the Solapur district followed by Pune district where seven new estates have been proposed. In case of the latter, multinational mega projects have already come up or are in the process in places like Ranjangaon and Chakan (Talegaon), identified for creating industrial estates.

The decision has come as a shot in the arm for the Pune region where 92 mega projects of large scale industries are coming up, the majority of which are in Pune and Kolhapur districts. The approximate investment in these projects has been estimated to be over Rs. 12,000 crore according to the office of the joint director of industries, Pune region.

Kamble said in order to further strengthen its position in the industrial sector the State is emphasising the simplification of procedures for obtaining required approvals for setting up of the industries.

The impetus is being laid on wide scale development of small scale industries (SSIs) in the region. At present, he said, there are 38,000 permanently registered and 27,000 provisionally registered SSIs in the region.

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The exponential growth of large scale sector will give a major boost to SSI sector and around 50,000 new SSI units are expected to get registered during next few years depending on the 980 large scale units which are going to start in the region, said Kamble. These large scale units have a whopping investment of about Rs. 40,000 crore, he added.

“A number of government organisations are also doing their bit to help the entrepreneurs set up new industries in the region. These include Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, Maharashtra Small Scale Industries Development Corporation, Maharashtra State Finance Corporation, State Industrial and Investment Corporation of Maharashtra (SICOM) and others,” he revealed.