Pune Cycle Event or Civic Scam? Anger Over PMC’s Rs 122 Crore Road Beautification Project
Pune, 16th September 2025: A proposal of ₹122.97 crore has been prepared for the repair and beautification of 64.80 km of city roads for the upcoming Pune Grand Cycle Tour competition. However, strong objections have been raised over the estimated cost of ₹1.89 crore per kilometre.
Experts argue that building an entirely new two-lane asphalt road, 5–7 metres wide, should not cost more than ₹3 crore per kilometre. Alleging inflated estimates, the organization Aaple Pune Aapla Paris has claimed that the Municipal Commissioner is being misled.
Representatives of the organization—former opposition leaders Ujjwal Keskar and Suhas Kulkarni, along with former corporator Prashant Badhe—submitted a complaint to the commissioner regarding the proposal. They pointed out that the package includes crores of rupees for works such as asphalting, painting dividers, installing signboards, and repairing potholes even on well-maintained concrete roads.
According to them, the roads required for the cycling event could be readied through routine reinstatement and maintenance works, rather than fresh large-scale projects. They further highlighted that tenders worth ₹2.62 crore have already been floated for works under the Aundh-Baner ward office alone, while maintenance works across all 15 regional offices together amount to nearly ₹40 crore.
The representatives argued that these regular works would suffice to prepare roads for the competition and could save nearly ₹125 crore of citizens’ tax money.
