Govt plans urban transport fund for Pune region

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Government is planning a Rs 2,600-crore urban transport fund for the Pune region. The fund will address the burgeoning transportation problems in the region.

The fund will be a major source of revenue for the upcoming Rs 4,600-crore Pune metro project.

The decision was taken after a group of Maharashtra Ministers, under the Chairmanship of the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, met on Monday, a press release issued by the Chief Minister’s office said.

In view of the traffic problems in Pune region, the State Government is planning a holistic development and transportation plan. It is also planning to set up a Pune Metropolitan Development Authority on the lines of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

The authority will act as a nodal body for all the development works in the region.

The State Government is also planning a ring road for Pune- Pimpri-Chinchwad region for which Rs 2,300-crore provision, for acquiring land, has been made, the release said.

A decision was also taken to name the upcoming airport at Chakan as Rajguru Nagar Airport.

Increase in stamp duty:

In a separate development, Mr R.R. Patil, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, announced that in order to increase the revenue, the Government is planning to increase the stamp duty in the State (excluding Mumbai) by one per cent.

The hike in the duty will fetch Rs 350 crore per year, which would be used for funding irrigation projects. The proposal to increase the duty will soon come before the Cabinet, he said.