The Maharashtra Warehousing Corporation has reportedly shifted its Pune offices into a newly built six-storey administrative building before its formal inauguration, leaving two older corporation-owned buildings at the Market Yard locked and unused, according to a report by Pudhari.
The new office is located near the Market Yard bus stop, close to the corporation’s existing headquarters. The report said the relocation was visible on October 13, with the old offices closed and staff functioning from the new premises. No public notice or press release was issued to inform farmers and citizens about the change, it said.
The corporation’s new building has a total area of 5,600 square metres and seating capacity for 210 employees and officers, according to information previously provided by its officials and cited in the report. The original estimated construction cost was approximately Rs 13.65 crore. The report said that the final expenditure, including any increase over the original estimate, was not available.
The reported shift has raised questions about the use of the two older buildings, which had operated for years and are also owned by the corporation. According to the report, the premises have remained unused for three to four months without generating rental income. Earlier officials had reportedly planned to explore leasing the buildings to banks or commercial operators, but no tenant had been secured by the time of publication.
The issue is therefore not limited to the timing of an inauguration. It also concerns how public bodies manage older assets after moving into new premises, whether vacant government-owned space is being put to productive use, and how affected service users are informed when a public office changes location. The report did not establish the precise financial loss from the vacant buildings or identify an approved leasing decision.
Maharashtra Marketing Minister Jaykumar Rawal inspected the new building on April 11, 2026, and gave officials some instructions, the report said. It remains unclear from the available information what those instructions covered and whether they included the timing of the office shift, use of the older buildings or the formal inauguration.
Maharashtra Warehousing Corporation chairman and managing director Kaustubh Divegaonkar was unavailable for comment when contacted, according to the report. Joint managing director, secretary and Additional Registrar of Cooperatives Deepak Shinde said he would provide information in person. The report also said questions remain over who will formally inaugurate the building and why the office began operating before that ceremony. The corporation’s response and details of the next administrative steps remain awaited.
