MBVA Mission To Gujarat - An Inspiration And Vision For The Future Of Pune And Maharashtra
I have been president for the MBVA (Marathi Bandhkam Vyavsayik Association) for the last year and a half. This body of prominent local real estate developers in Pune has a membership of over 250, and has become a vital knowledge and resource-sharing platform for all of them.MBVA has been a boon to the booming construction industry in Pune, providing its members a means to adopt standardized industry practices and technologies. MBVA also serves the function on giving its members a forum from which they can voice their issues to the relevant authorities.Another major function of this body is to conduct study tours for the members so that they can obtain knowledge of innovative industry practices. There are a number of ground-breaking systems being used elsewhere in the country, and of course abroad.Since the Pune real estate industry caters to a rich cross-section of the global market, there is a huge interest in projects which follow international construction norms. As such, there is a lot to be learned from countries like China, Israel and many of the Western countries.The MBVA has, in fact, visited Dubai, South Africa, China and Germany in the recent past so that its members can see such progressive trends and technologies being implemented first-hand. However, one of the most instructional tours we have had so far was much closer home - to neighbouring Gujarat.Members of the MBVA had the privilege of interacting with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and learning from him about the success strategies being used to drive real estate and infrastructure planning and development in this progressive state.Under his administration, Gujarat has seen the arrival of the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) and the finalization of the world's largest artificial fresh water lake - a Rs. 100,000 crore undertaking at Kalpsar which will address the state's water requirements for an entire century to come.The Sabarmati Riverfront Development project, the Janmarg Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS), GIFT City, Kids City and the ultra-modern Metro Rail project have all taken shape under the current administration.The State Government has provided an extremely conducive environment for overall development. This, coupled with the availability of skilled manpower, has resulted in massive external investments into the state and made Gujarat a prime SEZ and industrial destination.There is a great deal of investor faith for Gujarat, since the economy there is very evidently driven by policy rather than by people. Also, the development mantra in this state is based on Skills, Scale and Speed - a formula which has worked exceedingly well for its economy.We visited a number of large projects in Gujarat's major cities. At every point, we were impressed by the intelligent urban development policies that drive growth in this state.There is perfect transparency and governance being employed in all aspects of urban and rural planning, resulting in a win-win situation for land-owners, real estate developers, property buyers as well as the Government. Around Rs. 7000 crores worth of urban projects are being implemented, resulting in extremely modern civic amenities and infrastructure throughout the state.I came away from the experience with a distinct impression that other states should also consider adopting Gujarat's development policies. For example, the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) has introduced a number of infrastructure reforms which do not require massive investment by the Government.The model that AUDA follows is to acquire large pockets of land, providing the required infrastructure to make the areas viable for real estate development, and then giving back a part of this developed land to the owners. The land has naturally acquired a much higher value, so they are definitely winners. AUDA retains the remaining part for further development of its own projects.Historically, Gujarat has a highly defined entrepreneurial spirit and has provided India with some of its most outstanding business icons. There is no doubt that Gujarat’s State Government is one of the most progressive and proactive in India.There is a massive effort going on to provide modern infrastructure. In fact, Gujarat is probably the only Indian state that focuses on providing infrastructure first and then implementing planned real estate development in the newly enabled areas.Following our visit, to Gujarat, there has been a lot of discussion and debate among the members of MBVA on how such reforms and development initiatives could be replicated in Pune, as well. We are also working on putting some of the innovative technologies and concepts we witnessed there into practice for projects in this city.
Source: www.moneycontrol.com
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