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Sudha Menon

Pune amply lives up to its promise of a tier-II power city.

Any visitor to Pune, the Queen of the Deccan, can understandably be left breathless by the pace of action in what was formerly the "pensioner's paradise" for many decades. And the unbridled growth has grabbed attention at an international level.

Early this month Forbes magazine listed the city among the `Emerging Global Cities for 2006'. It came close on the heels of Pramod Haque, Managing Partner, Norwest Venture Partners, declaring: "Pune is the hot city to watch. It is where the Silicon Valley was 20 years ago." Norwest is a $1.8 billion fund in Palo Alto, California, and Haque says he encourages all his portfolio companies to expand to Pune.

And it's easy to see why.

Booming business

Besides booming growth in the IT and ITES sectors, the city is basking in investments in biotechnology, manufacturing, and engineering and design sectors.

Pune has become second home to IT biggies such as Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Tata Technologies, IBM, HP, and Symantec. Combine this with aggressive activity in the ITES and BPO segments during the last 3-4 years with names like Convergys, Aviva, EXL, HSBC and Msource setting up shop here. The city now has at least five satellite IT parks, including the pioneering Hinjewadi and Kharadi, Talewadi and Magarpatta City, with infrastructure and global connectivity. After phase I and II comprising 310 hectares, work is now under way for phase III of Hinjewadi's expansion, the largest ever, at 350 hectares.

Also coming up is a 136-acre International Biotech Park at Hinjewadi for which the state government is seeking special economic zone status.

The last few years have seen several multinationals homing in on Pune either on their own or with Indian partners, to leverage the city's large, highly-skilled talent pool. Korean major LG Electronic's second plant at Ranjangaon soon plans to manufacture mobile handsets and DVD writers, a bulk of which will go to export markets in Europe. American farm equipment giant John Deere, steel heavyweight BlueScope, Italy's Carraro group, Whirlpool and Matsushita are key investors, and the list is growing to include the auto component and other ancillaries industry. Emerson Inc, Philips, Cummins, Atlas Copco and the Tata Group have major design operations here.

The design and engineering technology services alone employs 20,000 people and the figures are expected to grow exponentially. Software company, Neilsoft's Managing Director, Ketan Bakshi feels that "Pune has all the ingredients to become the specialised engineering design valley of the country."

Making space

Real estate developers have been quick to cash in on the resultant demand for space. Lalit Kumar Jain, President of the Promoters and Builders Association of Pune (PBAP), says an additional 10 million sq ft of IT space, a large portion of it built-to-suit, will be ready in the next few months. The growing professional workforce has also catalysed a boom in demand for quality residential accommodation. "Prices have gone up 60-70 per cent in the catchment areas of the IT hubs and these people want it all-hi-tech security, premium fitments and facilities like squash courts, bowling, mini golf that other residential communities don't have," says Jain.

Vibrant lifestyle

The have-money-will-spend generation has also set off a change in the social fabric of this otherwise sedate city. Pubs, nightclubs, lounge bars, etc, are the order of the day. "Suddenly, it is not unusual for families to spend Rs 10,000-12,000 on three or four bottles of premium wines from France, Chile or Spain on an evening of entertaining," says Karen Anand, gourmet food specialist and restaurateur. Karen's trendy, casual dining European restaurant Merlot in Pune plays host every evening to 30-somethings who "know about foie gras, have eaten duck and quail and ask for wines by their names. They have travelled around the world and want the same kind of food when they come out to dine."

The rise in disposable income isn't going unnoticed. Lance Littlefield, Country Manager, South African Tourism, is very much aware. "The rapidly rising profile of the Puneite and the increasing spending power now makes it one of the priority markets. The purchasing power in Pune for premium products is among the highest in India and we see the potential for a good percentage of our business emanating from this vibrant city," he explains.

To help both the business and leisure traveller reach his destination faster, international flights out of the city finally took off end-2005 to Dubai and Singapore. Plans for London and other key cities are in the offing.

Shopping for style

Spending power has evolved into the mall-multiplex mania which has attracted chains like Mainland China, Bombay Brasserie, Not Just By the Bay and All Stir Fry, not to mention pubs and night places like Lush, Fire-n-Ice, which have the city's bold and the beautiful rocking the night away.

It also means that retail majors of every hue and size from Pyramids to Shoppers Stop, Trent (Westside) and Pantaloons have set up large operations here and many others including Lifestyle and French retailer Geant are now eyeing the potential. Hospitality majors Hyatt, Marriott, Indian Hotels and Radisson are already setting up properties in the city which is anticipated to have a shortfall of 2,000 rooms once the Rs 360-crore International Convention Centre is ready next year.

Pune's transformation into a sought-after destination has been fuelled among other things by the Mumbai-Pune expressway, which has now shrunk the distance between the two cities to a mere two-hour drive, making commuting and transporting goods to foreign markets easier. As Forbes magazine points out, "Increasingly, Pune is benefiting from the spillover of Mumbai's growth. Experts say Mumbai was so poorly designed that many businesses are looking to Pune for a fresh start."

The roadblocks

But all is not rosy. Business leaders and veteran Puneites are quick to point out that the city's exponential growth has brought down the quality of life. It has a shortfall of 150-200 MW of power, and citizens and businesses are exposed to a killing 3-4 hours of power cuts every day. The civic body has done little about the pathetic state of roads, which can hamper future investment. An ever-increasing vehicular population and decreasing green cover due to construction has resulted in drastic fall in air quality.

Says Rahul Bajaj, the virtual first citizen of business from the city: "I am a proud Puneite but I am not sure where the city is headed just now. We have no roads, no water, no power... There is little point saying we have the potential to be among the top cities in the country if we cannot put the basic infrastructure in place. What we need immediately is a state government which will take some tough, timely decisions for this city and a civic body which will implement infrastructure projects on priority."

Bajaj Auto, the leading two-wheeler maker, has two facilities around Pune. With strident public criticism from the state government, the citizens and the industry, the Pune Municipal Corporation is now undertaking infrastructure development with a budget of Rs 400 crore to rapidly improve roads and water supply.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has announced that the State has given an in-principle approval for a mass transport system that will be in place in 3-4 years.

On the other hand, Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Joint Managing Director, Kinetic Motors, who grew up here, studied in the US, but returned to assist with the family business, loves the unique identity of Pune. "Yes, the city has made an amazing transition and has a lifestyle that can be found anywhere in the world. But what I like about this place is that the people are the nicest here and I hope nothing takes away its quaintness. What I love about this city is that it has all the attributes of a big city with the charm and human touch of a smaller town."

Only time will tell whether this charisma will survive the unrestrained onslaught of progress on the fast track.

Go-go city

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