Hailed as the Oxford of the East, Pune as a city has been able to charge on a developmental path while still keeping its cultural roots and history intact. Situated on the confluence of mula and mutha rivers, the city derives its name from this very confluence. Historically, the confluence or sangam of two rivers is called as punya. Hence, the name Pune came into being.

Over a period of time, the city has well-deservingly acquired the crown of being called Maharashtra’s cultural capital because of its rich tradition and history and also for being home to various communities for over decades. But, in recent times, the city has made a conscious effort to be recognised more than just a cultural city to the state of Maharashtra and contribute to the state’s economy and development through an ever-growing and promising industrial hub.

Joining the league of major cities of India, Pune’s proximity to the commercial capital of the country, Mumbai and great weather have contributed greatly in the city climbing up the success ladder. The rapidly flourishing IT industry in areas like Hinjewadi, Tathawade, Magarpatta and Kharadi are attracting the eyeballs of big global names in the information technology sector into the city. Such has been the IT development rate that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis aims to build Pune as the IT capital of India.

This burgeoning development in the IT sector has also had a massive impact on the city’s real estate sector as more companies means more employees which automatically translates to more people looking for a place to live in the city. The city currently boosts of being home to more than 50 established and prominent IT/ITeS names such as Cognizant, Infosys, Mastek, and SunGard etc.

In addition to the IT sector, the other industries which are increasing their base in the city of Pune are the R&D sector and the Automobile sector. Such has been the rate of the growth process that Pune has overtaken Bangalore as a hub for high-end engineering design and product development work done out of Multinational corporations firms’ R&D outposts. Currently, the city houses over 110 MNC R&D centres having more than 24,000 people as employees. Well established industrial names like Pitney Bowes, PTC have their R&D centre in the Pune city.

But the one sector that the city owes its development is to the automobile sector. It all started in the 1950s and 60s with the setting up of automobile giants like Kirloskar Oil Engines, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto. It was only after this that the city of Pune which was once only looked just as a cultural city began to being to transform as an industrial hub. The city is also fondly called the ‘Detroit of India’ because of the huge presence of automobile manufacturing units and component suppliers in the city.

Pune as a city has a huge potential for growth and this was also recently recognised by the Government of India as the city acquired the number two position in the top 20 smart cities list in the country. From a cultural capital to an industrial hub, the city has had quite a transformation over the years.