13 November,2010 07:05 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
State road agency hopes to zoom into profitability with Formula 1 circuit
SADDLED with a Rs 4,000 crore debt and facing a severe financial crunch, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) plans to overcome these difficulties by constructing a Formula 1 circuit along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and earning handsome profits from it.
MSRDC has already started the process and invited bids from interested parties for carrying out technical and financial viability studies for the F1 circuit.
MSRDC plans to construct a Formula 1 circuit along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway
"MSRDC wants to enter other sectors apart from constructing roads and collecting tolls, and so it has plans to set up a theme park and Formula 1 circuit along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway," said former MSRDC chairman Jaydatta Kshirsagar.
MSRDC sources said the corporation had been in the grip of a financial crunch for a long time and the state government had asked it to come up with plans to generate revenue for the various road infrastructure projects that were in the pipeline. Kshirsagar, however, said MSRDC was not running in loss.
"It has a stable source of revenuein the toll collecting agencies that have bagged contracts to collect tolls at various places in Maharashtra. So it is wrong to term the organisation financially weak," he said.
The MSRDC has more than 20 plots with a total area of around 1,000 acres along the 92-km Mumbai-Pune Express-way. The corporation is also planning a theme park there along with the F1 circuit. Both projects will be planned to be public-private partnerships.
Theme Park
> MSRDC is planning a theme park on over 200 acres land near the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and has already invited bids for consultancy services for the development of the theme park.
> Apart from EsselWorld in the suburbs, the city has no other amusement or theme parks. There are, however, new parks being planned ufffd a Bollywood theme park is coming up on 250 acres CIDCO land at Kharghar.
> MSRDC will also construct infrastructure along these land parcels to make them attractive for investors.
