Pune is the seventh-most populous city in India and the second largest in the state of Maharashtra . It was known as Punyanagari in earlier times. Pune is considered the cultural capital of Maharashtra. Since the 1950s and 1960s, Pune has had traditional old-economy industries which continue to grow today.
Further, the city is also known for manufacturing and automobiles, as well as government and private sector research institutes for information technology (IT) education, management and training, which attract migrants, students, and professionals from India, South East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Pune is also one of the fastest growing cities in the Asia-Pacific region. Pune is amongst evolving business centers and emerging 9 cities around the world with citation "Hosts IT and automotive companies"
The automotive sector is prominent in Pune. It is home to the Automotive Research Association of India, which is responsible for the homologation of all vehicles available in India. All sectors of the automotive industry are represented, from two-wheelers and auto rickshaws to cars, tractors , tempos, excavators and trucks.
Automotive companies like Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Mercedes Benz, Force Motors (Firodia-Group), Kinetic Motors, General Motors, Land Rover, Jaguar, Renault, Volkswagen, and Fiat have set up greenfield facilities near Pune. Pune is also home to large IT companies such as Tata Consultancy services , Infosys , Amdocs , KPIT , Cybage, e-Zest Solutions, Opus Software Solutions, Accenture, and thousands of small IT companies and start-ups which thrive in the highly skilled resource pool from this city's Engineers. Hinjawadi, a small village on the outskirts of Pune has been developed as an IT hub.
The Rajiv Gandhi InfoTech Park located here houses many software companies like IBM, Wipro, Tata Technologies, Atos, Tech Mahindra, Geometric Limited etc. Pune Food Cluster development project is an initiative funded by the World Bank. It is being implemented with the help of SIDBI, Cluster Craft to facilitate the development of the fruit and vegetable processing industries in and around Pune.
Pune is the largest hub in India for German companies. According to the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, Pune has been the single largest hub for German companies for the last 60 years. Over 225 German companies have set up their businesses here. The industrial township of Pimpri Chinchwad, adjacent to the main city, is dotted with over 4,000 manufacturing units.
