The Hindu Business Line : Market opens up for mechanised multi-level parking systems

Advertisement

Pune March 6 With parking space at ground level becoming dearer by the day, mechanised multi-level parking systems are fast becoming a necessity. By the year-end, an estimated 10,000 passenger vehicles in the country will find themselves stacked this way, and for specialists in the infrastructure business it's a Rs 300-crore opportunity, which is growing.

In fact, India's first `car high-rise' — 20 floors tall — is rapidly nearing completion at Sambhaji Park in the heart of Pune, and will be ready for the unveiling in a couple of weeks' time. Not only will it, at 40 metre, be the tallest `building' in the city, it's the first project of its kind in partnership with a local government, in this case the Pune Municipal Corporation.

The twin towers that are being constructed by Ram Ratna Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (RRIPL) will accommodate 80 cars and the entire parking process will be `untouched by human hand.' "Owners have just to leave the car on the ramp, key in the 4-digit car number, and the vehicle will automatically be allotted a slot," explains Mr S.G. Mulchandani, Director. The retrieval process, he promises, takes less than two minutes.

With the cost of constructing each parking slot averaging Rs 3 lakh, the Pune project has been constructed on a build, operate, transfer (BOT) basis. PMC has put up the capital required, and given the land, while Ram Ratna will maintain it for five years, at a nominal fee of Rs 5 per hour per car, and recover costs from advertisements on the front panel of the tower, before handing it back to the city.

The concept of automated multi-level parking has already begun to catch the fancy of builders in cities such asMumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Hyderabad and Jaipur. RRIPL has already undertaken to build a 50-metre high tower for 50 cars at Chennai, but it is the 2,500 automated multi-level car park at a mall in Bangalore that is hogging the limelight.

Though most upcoming parking facilities at present are at the behest of private parties, the government too is waking up to this reality. At the metros, the operating word is not BOT, but negative grant.

Here the government gives a piece of land, on half of which the infrastructure company invests and puts up the car park. The remaining land it develops for commercial purposes and recovers the investment, making it a win-win situation.

Currently, there is a flurry of tenders being floated for multi-level parking systems by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority in Mumbai, including one for a new facility that will reportedly stand at the location of the present day Crawford market. The forthcoming games at Delhi presents another urgency for these systems. The overseas markets are also an evolving opportunity.

More Stories on : Strategy | Roadways | Infrastructure

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
UCO Bank bets on retail sales force

Market opens up for mechanised multi-level parking systems

Godrej to extend Nutrine brand to gums, chocolates

`Novartis to continue with Glivec case'

Coca-Cola's summer campaign

Tata Sky investing Rs 3,000 cr in expansion

Royal Classic Polo plans more outlets

Cisco releases new system

New Microchip Tech tool

New HP product launched