Pune promises to be Next Big Thing for Asian innovation: Zinnov study

15th December 2011
Pune promises to be Next Big Thing  for Asian innovation: Zinnov study

December 15 2011: Bangalore beware. Hyderabad hoshiar. Gurgaon get ready. Pune may be the next big innovation hub of Asia, with the makings of an engineering, R&D and IT services powerhouse, suggests a study conducted by Zinnov Management Consulting.
While Pune has traditionally been a location of industrial engineering, it now produces a large and diversified pool of engineering graduates every year spanning IT, Automobiles and Finance. Pune produces over 12,000 engineering graduates every year and it is expected to further increase as more colleges come up. Add to this the many institutes which offer market oriented vocational training courses like Hotel Management, Gemology, Jewelry designing, etc. Volkswagen opened its automotive technical knowledge center in Pune and has tie-ups with various polytechnics, and engineering institutions across India. Foreign languages like French, Spanish and German too are quite popular among ‘Puneites’, notes the Zinnov study conducted in association with the Software Exporters’ Association of Pune (SEAP).
Key Findings of the Study

India has seen 124 software product start-ups from Pune in the last decade

The city has 112 MNC R&D centres, MNC talent pool of 24,000 and 17 Special Economic Zones and IT parks; making it an attractive destination.
Pune has already been granted approval for 18 IT-BPO SEZs with a total area of 568 hectares. The STPI has proposed a Phase II project of Hinjewadi, Pune’s largest IT park.
The industry ecosystem in Pune, mainly consists of Core Engineering, Software Products and IT Services.
Within the overall industry ecosystem, key areas of strength for Pune include Banking and Financial services, Automotive Engineering and Enterprise Software product engineering.

Pune has traditionally been the engineering base for some of the largest Indian engineering and technology companies namely Bajaj Auto, Kirloskar Electric Company, Bharat Forge, Tata Motors, Kinetic India, Thermax India, KPTI Cummins and the likes. The city also has the highest number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and large-scale units in Maharashtra state. The district accounts for 49.7% of MSME units and 50.5% of large-scale units in Maharashtra.

Says Pari Natarajan, Co-Founder & CEO, Zinnov Management Consulting, “We were always upbeat about Pune and its prospects. Pune has not only contributed to the growth of the State, but also to the overall ITgrowth of India. We are also seeing an explosive start-up ecosystem here, which is very unique to the city. Pune houses close to 125 indigenous startups with business and productivity software accounting for 50% of it. In the years tocome, the city can easily propel itself to the global league through some smart marketing efforts and creating a more vibrant Brand Pune.”
Adds Gaurav Mehra, President, SEAP: “We are glad to have partnered with Zinnov for this interesting study on Pune. We are confident that Pune is on the path to becoming the nex tinnovation hub of Asia. All the factors are conducive for growth and with some more push and efforts from the industry and government alike, there is no stopping it.”
The study states that 85% of India’s software product companies’ R&D centre is headquartered in Pune, and the city employs 61% of India’s R&D employee base for software productcompanies.