Pune: Of the Rs 600 crore funding received, the Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited (PSCDCL) has spent Rs 421 crore, but the highest payment made by the company is to a consultant of Rs 30 crore. What is more shocking is the PSCDCL has spent Rs 300 crore for developing a 40-kilometre long stretch which means it has spent Rs 7 to 8 crore per kilometre.

The advisory committee of PSCDCL met on Friday under the chairmanship of Guardian Minister of Pune district and Deputy Chief Minister of the state Ajit Pawar. Member of Parliament Girish Bapat, Member of Legislative Assembly Madhuri Misal, Sunil Kamble, Siddharth Shirole, Chetan Tupe, Sunil Tingare along with realtors Satish Magar and Aniruddha Deshpande as special invitee were present during the meeting.

Sanjay Kolte, CEO of PSCDCL started his presentation at the meeting. He appraised the committee of completed projects as well as those where the work is in progress. MLA Misal, Tupe and Tingre asked for exact details of the funds spent, but PSCDCL officials gave only the total amount of funds spent on various projects. The elected representatives expressed their dissatisfaction over this approach. When the PSCDCL officials informed that Rs 30 crore were paid to the consultant McKinsey, MLA Tupe brought to the notice of the members that the highest amount from the funds has been paid to the consultant who have now been blacklisted.

MP Bapat also alleged and criticised the unwanted expenditure on consultants by the PSCDCL. While Bapat was making the allegations, Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao objected and said that the parliamentarian was misinformed. Furious over this, Bapat told Rao that he had proof to back his claims and he was ready to submit those documents to the PSCDCL. Bapat further challenged Rao to find fault with the documents and be ready to resign from the post if the proofs were true else he would also be ready to resign as the MP.

Ajit Pawar also heavily criticised the functioning and decision making of the PSCDCL. He also ordered the administration to immediately submit a report on the various projects and works completed by the PSCDCL.