Atul Goel, chairman, PBAP Exhibition Committee said, “This year we have tied up with a furniture store, Tangent and Dass Electrical to offer Punekars who book a home at the exhibition a 5 to 15% discount on consumer durables and furniture from these stores.''

Understanding that sustainable growth of the city is vital to the real estate industry, the PBAP invited divisional commissioner Nitin Kareer and PMC chief Parveensinh Pardeshi to share their views on how Pune can

continue to be an attractive investment destination.

Highlighting the features that give Pune an edge over other cities, PBAP president LK Jain said, ``Pune is among the top seven cities of the country and has some natural advantages that few other cities in India have. We have good water supply , great climate, excellent manpower supply and good connectivity. However if there is not enough political support we will soon go the Bangalore way where investment has moved out of the city as infrastructure crumbles.''

Kareer pointed out that unlike Bangalore , “Pune is grown on not just one growth engine, the IT industry, but has the auto cluster, manufacturing, health and services sectors. This would mean that people would come into the city.''

The discussion moved to infrastructure that is so vital for a city to attract investments.

“Soft infrastructure such as our education systems that give the city its skilled manpower, that drives growth, our culture and heritage, our environment, given that development takes it toll on the green cover. Without keeping this balance we may not be able to achieve growth as we foresee it," Kareer said.

The panelists all agreed that infrastructure was the most urgent need of the hour.