Pune and the IT Boom Pune has recently come into limelight because of the Information Technology sector. It has proved to be like high Octane fuel to the growth of the city. One of the prime reasons behind the explosive growth of Pune has been the emergence of the IT industry in the city. Since the Government of India began to accord a special status to the IT industry, the Government of Maharashtra to has followed suit. A prime example is Hinjewadi, one of the fastest growing suburbs of India. The opening of the IT and allied industries job markets, job seekers from other cities made Pune their career choice. Another prime location is Kharadi, which too has witnessed explosive growth.
All this influx of IT talent to Pune has resulted in a distinct shift in the profile of Pune, which was once deemed as the ‘pensioner’s paradise’. Pune today has become a motley crowd of the young, tech savvy yuppie who has enough spare money to demand the fine things in life, and the average Pune ite who still abides by the old values. The city has seen the mushrooming of many hotels, malls and multiplexes to suit the needs of the young crowd, and has also escalated the price of accommodation. A number of reputed construction houses not only from Pune, but from other places like Mumbai and Hyderabad have acquired land and executed ambitious residential as well as commercial projects in Pune. Coupled with the fact that Pune has the largest population of students in India, it has indeed expanded the horizons of this once sleepy city.