PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has given the green signal to the Consulate General of Sweden and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce India to develop a three-kilometre patch of Sveanagar Road in Dapodi into a Smart Street. It will be renamed as Swedish Avenue during a function to be held on the street on Sunday morning.
Sharing details about the project, Ulrika Sundberg, Consul General of Sweden, Mumbai, said, “The approval to develop this patch of the road into a Smart Street and changing its name to Swedish Avenue is a token of recognition from the PCMC and India of the contribution of Swedish companies to India. We are going to convert this street into a window of Sweden, wherein we will install sustainable and environment-friendly infrastructure and also paint the street blue and yellow.”
She said the Swedish Avenue in Pune will be a symbol of Swedish values, innovations, sustainability and technology. “The street, which houses three Swedish corporate giants - Sandvik, Atlas Copco and Alfa Laval - will showcase Swedish solutions for beautification and maintenance of streets. The street will have solar power poles, air pollution information, recycling systems and waste management systems, infrastructure made of recycled material, bicycle track, pavements for pedestrians, smart transportation like e-bikes, electronic boards, information signages and others,” Sundberg explained.
She said that an array of exhibitions showcasing Swedish art and culture will also be held at Swedish Avenue from time to time. According to her, persons crossing the Sveanagar or Swedish Avenue must feel like they have entered a Swedish part of Pune.
Vice President of Swedish Chamber of Commerce India and Managing Director of Sandvik, Parag Satpute, said that the street will be a showcase of Sweden. “The street will showcase Swedish technology and innovations in sustainability. The government and local bodies working on the Smart City project can implement these or similar technologies while developing Smart Cities,” he added.
He said that while the plan has only just got approval, discussions will be held with the concerned stakeholders at PCMC for further planning and development.
Both of them further mentioned that the Swedish Chamber of Commerce India is also inaugurating the Swedish Corporate Championship on Sunday, which aims at bringing Swedish companies in India together to promote sports as a healthy movement for life.
Sundberg said that the championship, in which employees of Swedish companies and their families will participate, will include sports like cricket, football, tennis, badminton, basketball, carrom, chess, pool and box cricket. “This year, there will be nine participating companies with over 1,600 participants and 500 matches. Pune has about 97 Swedish companies and we are expecting them to join in the championship in the coming years,” she explained.
