MSRDC managing director R C Sinha, in his address on `Infrastructure Opportunities in Maharashtra', at the concluding day of the Euromoney Conference, on Friday said MSRDC has also entered into a tripartite agreement with financial institutions to give them assurance of security and confidence for investing in a relatively new sector of investment.

He informed that while offering traffic guarantee, MSRDC will reimburse the potential loss up to five per cent incurred by the entrepreneur in the toll collection. However, he hastened to add that the entrepreneur will have to share profit up to five per cent if it earns profit.

Sinha said the ambitious Rs 1,400-croreMumbai-Pune express way will be completed in January 2000 and added that payments to the contractors were made within 72 hours. He said a policy decision at the state government level has already been taken to upgrade major parts of the national highway and construction of Mumbai-Ahmedbad, Mumbai-Nashik and Mumbai-Mahad expressways.

MSRDC has already undertaken construction of 50 flyovers in Mumbai, 29 rail over bridges, seven city bypasses and few bridge works on the rivers criss-crossing the state.

Asoke Basak, chairman, Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), said an addition of 1,740 mw will be made to the state's installed capacity by the end of 1998 with the commissioning of the first phase of the Dabhol power project (740 mw) and Koyana power project (1,000 mw). The state's installed capacity will be increased to a record level of 20,586 mw by 2002-03 from the present level of 12,238 mw and added that the expected peaking availability will also go up from 9,500 mw to 13,917 MW, keeping apeaking shortage of minus 129.

Basak said the letter of award will be given to the seven medium-sized projects with a total capacity of 1,200 mw by September this year while the financial closure will be achieved within three months from the date of letter of award. MSEB's attempt to involve private sector in captive power generation, bagasse-based power generation and wind power generation has paid off as several bids have been already received. MSEB will reimburse entry tax/octroi to the developer of wind power project and will offer capital subsidy and small-scale industries status.

Yashwant Bhave, state industry secretary, announced that Rs 800 crore would be spent on the development of mega industrial estates at nine sites with five-star infrastructure facilities. He informed that Maharashtraila Industrial Development Corporation would make an investment of Rs 250 crore for the development of millennium industrial park at Navi Mumbai on an area of 1.7 lakh sq.mt with 1,362 industrial modules.