India’s premier industrial and manufacturing hub is Pune. Pune District is Maharashtra’s third-largest economic contributor, behind Thane and Mumbai, with an estimated nominal GDP of Rs. 3,31,478 crores for the 2019–20 fiscal year. Pune is the nation’s sixth-highest-income city by per capita and has the fifth-largest metropolitan economy. Pune District had a GDP per capita of Rs. 3,16,848 in 2019–20, according to the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (Government of Maharashtra). It has been said that Pune is India’s educational capital and has a long history of serving as a hub for higher education. According to a report from 2016, there are more than a thousand universities and nine of them, with nearly 500,000 students studying there.
The city serves as headquarters to many companies. The Kirloskar Group came to Pune in 1945 when Kirloskar Brothers Ltd setup Kirloskar Oil Engines, India’s largest diesel engine company, at Khadki. The group has several group companies in Pune including Kirloskar Pneumatics and the group’s flagship company Kirloskar Brothers Limited, one of India’s largest manufacturers and exporters of pumps and the largest infrastructure pumping project contractor in Asia. Kalyani Group based in Pune owns a subsidiary Bharat Forge which operates world’s largest single location forging facility consisting of fully automated forging press lines and state-of-the-art machining facility in Pune. Bajaj Auto is ranked as the world’s fourth largest two- and three-wheeler manufacturer is based in Pune.
The city is known for its automotive industry. A large number of automobile companies such as Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Skoda cars, Mercedes Benz, Force Motors, Kinetic Motors, General Motors, Land Rover, Jaguar, Renault, Volkswagen, and Fiat have there manufacturing plants in Pune primarily in Chakan. The Independent referred Chakan as India’s “Motor City”. Serum Institute of India, the world’s fifth largest vaccine producer by volume, is based in Pune.
The Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park in Hinjawadi is a ₹ 60,000 crore (US$8.9 billion) project by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). The IT Park encompasses an area of about 2,800 acres (11 km2) and is home to over 800 IT companies of all sizes. Besides Hinjawadi, IT companies are also located at Magarpatta, Kharadi and several other parts of the city. As of 2017, the IT sector employs more than 300,000 people. Pune has also emerged as a new hub for tech startups in India. NASSCOM, in association with MIDC, has started a co-working space for city based startups under its 10,000 startups initiative at Kharadi MIDC. Pune Food Cluster development project is an initiative funded by the World Bank. It is being implemented with the help of Small Industries Development Bank of India, Cluster Craft to facilitate the development of the fruit and vegetable processing industries in and around Pune.
Pune is an emerging center for VFX services, with Indian and international studios such as Anibrain, Reliance Animation, philm CGI, Digikore Studios, HMX Media, Stereo D, Framestore and Method Studios having established their facilities here.
Major technology companies Ubisoft Pune, Zensar Technologies, Patni Computer Systems, Persistent Systems, Indiacom, Harbinger Knowledge Products, Seniority, Monjin, Mylab Discovery Solutions, Quick Heal and KPIT Technologies are headquartered in Pune. Indian tech giant Infosys was founded in Pune who have a mega campus in city. Zensar Technologies is located in a mega campus called Zensar Park.
The Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions trade is expected to be boosted since the Pune International Exhibition and Convention Centre (PIECC) opened in 2017. The 97-hectare PIECC boasts a seating capacity of 20,000 with a floor area of 13,000 m2 (139,931 sq ft). It has seven exhibition centres, a convention centre, a golf course, a five-star hotel, a business complex, shopping malls, and residences. The US$115 million project was developed by the Pimpri-Chinchwad New Town Development Authority.
As the second largest state of Maharashtra, Pune is a hub of multifarious activities and is fast evolving into one of the major cosmopolitan cities of India. Pune was previously the headquarters of the Peshwa dynasty in Maharashtra, So all-in-all Pune is veritable treasure house of tourist attractions and things to do that will keep you on your toes all through your visit to Pune. The people, the places and the weather will coax you to explore all these tourist attractions that we think are a must visit in Pune.