By IANS
Pune : The government has given a green signal to set up a mammoth 200-acre international exhibition centre at Moshi near Pune, the first of its kind in the western part of the country.
At present the only such exhibition centre in country is at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
Last week a high level meeting of government officials was held in Mumbai to give final touches to this centre, which is first of its kind in Maharashtra and the whole of the western belt.
Nitin Kareer, divisional commissioner of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), told IANS: “The exhibition centre will have world class facilities, a 40,000 sq metres of indoor hall, space for convention centre and hotels.”
The government has already given a green signal for a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for this.
A Pimpri Chinchwad New Township Development Authority (PCNTDA) has been initiated for the purpose. The SPV and PCNDA are in the process of appointing consultants to draft a detailed project report.
This project was conceptualised by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries, and Agriculture (MCCIA).
MCCIA additional director general Anant Sardeshmukh said: “With Pune becoming an attractive base for IT companies and automobile giants, an international exhibition centre was very much required. This will position Pune on the global map.”
According to Sardeshmukh, the centre will have facilities comparable to exhibition centres of Hanover in Germany, Birmingham in Britain and Osaka in Japan, making it an international marketing destination.
The choice of location, Moshi, is also very good given that it will be near to the proposed new international airport at Pune.
Kareer points out that the facility will provide business networking opportunities for domestic companies. It can also become launching pad for innovation and demonstration of machines and systems in operation.
Both the government and private companies will finance the project. At present the PMC, PCMC and PCNTDA are working out modalities to float tenders inviting private players for the purpose.