No land, investors bypass Pune district

There had been no dearth of investment proposals – there were as many as 7,000 – but shortage of land had forced the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation to turn down them down, especially in key locations such as Hinjewadi, Kharadi, and Talawade. These industrial pockets are facing a major ‘land crunch’.

In major industrial areas such as Chakan, Talegaon, Ranjangaon and Baramati, there are nearly 6,200 proposals pending. There are 700-800 proposals of investing in Hinjewadi, Kharadi, Talawade, Kurkumbh, Jejuri and Indapur which are in a limbo. The district administration has been talking to private land owners to help MIDC acquire land.

“There are many keen on investing in these areas. Land crunch is a problem. The process of land acquisition is being carried out simultaneously but demand is much more than availability. There are proposals from MNCs as well as Indian companies,” says A D Chavan, regional officer I, MIDC regarding this area MIDC phase I that houses huge auto units.

“There is a requirement of 100 acres and we recently got around 75 acres at Ranjangaon. Companies from China, Japan, Europe and even US have elicited interest in the area,” he adds.

Recently, MIDC acquired about 2,000 acres in Ranjangaon as well as Talegaon and the process of paying owners compensation is on, he added. “We have offered Rs 50 lakh per hectare (20 lakh per acre) for Ranjangaon area and are yet to finalise the rate for the 1,200 acres acquired in Talegaon area,” adds Chavan. The belt houses mainly IT, auto and general engineering companies and boasts many MNCs. “While PCMC industrial belt has less land, so do these areas and we are gradually seeing many investments for Baramati as well,” adds Chavan. Recently, MIDC issued notices to the owners of unused plots to take them back, and got about 350 plots in Chakan MIDC area.

In the other belt, MIDC was recently able to get three plots from Rajiv Gandhi IT park in Hinjewadi measuring about 17 acres but the requirement is 200 acres. “We have a demand from Infosys (150 acres), Persistent System (30 acres), Capgemini (15 acres), Fulcrum (5 acres) and are looking at more land acquisition for these companies,” said Ajit Relekar, RO II, MIDC. He said he has to stop online applications in many areas because of unavailability of land. “In my areas, no land is available in Kharadi and Talawade and it is limited in Hinjewadi and Kurkumbh. Kurkumb, a hub of chemical industries, has big players from Italy, Denmark and other European countries but here also there is a land crunch, and developed land is hard to come by,” he points out.

With major hubs already taken up, investors are turning towards Jejuri and Indapur. “We are seeing applications for these areas as well and recently had some land bank in Indapur along the Solapur road and investors are slowly shifting focus. Engineering and fabrication ancillary units are coming up on  this stretch,” he said.