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The Electricity Situation
Pune has an efficient transmission network
that ensures a steady supply of power. To
meet contingencies arising as a result of
an occasional shortage of power, the network
is connected to the national grid. As a result,
power cuts in the city are rare. It is expected
that, commensurate with industrial growth,
the demand for power will grow significantly
in the coming years. To meet this growing
demand, the MSEB that supplies power to the
city has identified several power projects
for development by independent power producers.
The first one to go on-stream will be the
2,450 MW combined cycle gas-based project
at Dabhol, developed by Enron Development
Corporation, along with General Electric Company
and Bechtel Corporation. The first phase of
695 MW of this project is already under construction
and it was expected that generation commence
in December 1998. Other projects in an advanced
stage of development are the coal-based 1,082
MW Bhadravati power project promoted by the
ISPAT group, a growing Indian business house,
and the gas-based 410 MW Patalganga power
project, promoted by Reliance, one of India's
largest business groups.
Telecommunications:
Pune has nearly 200,000 working lines. It
is now possible to get a telephone connection
in certain parts of the city almost instantaneously.
Telex and fax facilities are commonplace and
telegraph offices exist in almost all the
villages. Despite the relatively comfortable
position, the per capita ratio of telephone
lines is lower than the international average.
Recognizing this, the Telecom department and
the state government are making efforts to
increase the capacity by setting up new automatic
exchanges. With the opening up of the basic
telecom services to the private sector, there
will be a further increase in the quality
and efficiency of services in the city. Following
international trends, value-added services
have also been introduced in the city. In
1995, radio-paging services were started in
Pune. In 1996, cellular telephone services
were introduced.  The
licence for operating cellular telephone service
in Pune has been awarded to BPL Systems and
Birla AT&T Communications Ltd. The licence
to operate basic telecom services has been
awarded to Hughes Ispat. Videsh Sanchar Nigam
Ltd (VSNL), the central government-owned telecom
company for overseas communication, has introduced
Internet services in 1995, connecting Pune
to cyberspace. For data communication, advanced
satellite linked data transmittal services
are available in the city. It is not uncommon
for software companies to set up their development
centres in the city to develop software and
transfer it via satellite to other parts of
the world.
Transportation:
The city is well connected by rail, road
and air. All major cities in the country are
connected by both rail and air. Pune is the
headquarters of the south central railways
and a number of south bound trains starting
from Mumbai transit through the city. The
north and east of the country is well connected
by trains that start or transit through the
city. Indian Airlines and Jet Airways have
daily flights that connect the city to most
of the important destinations across the country.
The city has the Maharashtra State Roadways
Transport Corporation, the Asiad Bus service
and several private bus services that connect
the city to destinations all over the state
and also to places in the neighboring states.
The Asiad bus service runs buses at frequent
intervals to Mumbai and back to the city.
Two major highways that run through the city
are the Mumbai-Bangalore highway and the Pune-Solapur
highway. The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is the
boldest project undertaken by the state government.
This six-lane expressway will reduce the travelling
time between the two cities.
Agriculture in Pune:
The soil, topography and climate of the
region is not particularly conducive to high-value
crops. In addition to this, scanty and erratic
monsoons, coupled with adverse agricultural
conditions have, through history, led to the
productivity in this sector being lower than
the national average. The city's efforts have
paid off; it has managed to substantially
make up for these deficiencies, going a long
way towards matching the agricultural yield
from the rest of the country. Various measures
have been undertaken to ensure steady improvement
and continued growth of the agricultural sector.
These include distribution of hybrid and higher
quality seeds, establishment of soil testing
laboratories and efficient and balanced use
of fertilizers and pesticides, and facilities
for farmers such as crop insurance schemes
and agricultural finance.
The state government has recognised the potential
of Maharashtra as a horticultural producer
and has launched a formal programme to tap
this resource. A number of horticulture nurseries
have been established in the city to produce
and supply genuine planting material of various
fruit crops to cultivators. Pune is the city
for animal husbandry industry. The Venkateswara
Group of companies or the more popularly known
Venkys is the homegrown brand of the city.
Poultry farming has become a very important
industry and the city has seen the growth
of several homegrown poultry industries.
Co-operative Societies:
The co-operative movement in Pune has played
a vital role in the social and economic development
of the city, especially in the development
of rural areas. Although initially limited
to the agricultural sector, this movement
has rapidly spread to other fields - agro-processing,
agro-marketing, rural industries, consumer
stores and social services.
Non-agricultural Societies:
Apex and central banks, non-agricultural credit
societies and marketing societies have also
contributed to the development of the state.
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