• SPV meeting next week to plan projects in Pune

    he first meeting of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will implement infrastructure projects under the Smart Cities Mission will take place next week.

    The Centre will release the first instalment of the funds soon, municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar has said.

    “All legal procedures, including registration of the company, have been completed and the implementation of the project plan will be done without delay,” Kumar told reporters on Thursday.

    The state government approved the formation of the SPV last month and appointed the municipal commissioner as the head of its committee, despite opposition from political parties.

    Kumar said, “The first meeting of the SPV will be called next week. Initially, there was an impression that the Smart Cities Mission will focus on one part of the city. But the entire city is going to benefit from the mission. Pune Municipal Corporation is all set to implement the projects.”

    While the civic chief is gearing up to launch the smart city project, mayor Prashant Jagtap has submitted a memorandum to Union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu seeking more rights for elected representatives on the board of the SPV.

    “Elected members and the mayor are members of the SPV. But they have a limited role and authority compared to other non-elected members. The minister has said that he would consider the demand,” Jagtap said.

    The Union urban development ministry has said that each smart city in the country will have an SPV headed by a full-time CEO. It will have nominees of the Union and state governments and the municipal corporation on board. The SPV will plan, appraise, approve, release funds, implement, manage, operate, monitor and evaluate development projects under the plan.

    The state and the municipal corporation will have to ensure that a dedicated and substantial revenue stream is made available to the SPV so as to make it self-sustainable. The company can evolve its own credit-worthiness to raise additional resources from the market. 

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