If its share of 21 per cent (18 per cent for the Pune Municipal Corporation and 3 per cent for Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) received in the first two years of JNNURM is any indication, the booster dose given in the interim budget — at Rs 11,842 crore — will mean the city can look forward to around Rs 2,500 crore of the amount coming its way in the next fiscal for urban renewal projects. It could go a long way in changing the way the city looks.

The union government had allocated Rs 5,482 crore in the 2007-08 budget and

Rs 6,866 crore in 2008-09 for JNNURM projects in the country. Pune has been one of the major recipients with Rs 2,277 crore allotted in the first two years with the PMC accounting for 18 per cent of the total and PCMC receiving three per cent, in the last two years.

“The PMC would try to ensure it gets at least 18 per cent of the additional funds being allocated in the interim budget. The PMC has already submitted some proposals to the Centre for approval,” Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi told The Indian Express. He said there were projects from various departments that needed funding, but the focus would be on water supply.

The PMC is already awaiting clearance from the union government for a sewage treatment plant estimated to cost Rs 232 crore and a solid waste management proposal of Rs 100 crore. The union government recently gave its nod to Rs 399 crore for a storm water drainage, and has yet to take a decision on the Rs 300-crore proposal for its second phase.

The Rs 287-crore proposal for procuring buses for PMPML is also awaiting clearance.

“There are proposals aggregating Rs 919 crore awaiting the nod from the union government. The Detailed Project Report has already been submitted to the union government,” PMC officer Praveen Ashtikar said.

However, all these together account for only eight per cent of the additional funds for JNNURM allocated now.

According to PCMC commissioner Asheesh Sharma the civic body has been sanctioned projects worth Rs 2,500 crore, though only Rs 322 crore has been released so far.

Sharma said the union government releases funds based on the progress of the work and the PCMC would soon start receiving the remaining funds.