Pune: the location brief

Use this brief to understand Pune as a location for a capability centre: what the state's policy says, what the talent base looks like on government data, how the office market is described by published brokerage reports, how people move around, and which operating rules apply. It does not rank Pune against other cities, it does not recommend a submarket or a provider, and it does not quote any figure we could not trace to a source.

What the city is known for

The district administration describes Pune as a city with "information technology, engineering and automotive companies sprouting" and notes its reputation as "the Oxford of the East" for education (Pune district). The state's own capability-centre policy positions Pune as the "technology and research nucleus" of Maharashtra's GCC ecosystem (Mondaq's summary of the policy, November 2025).

In office demand, Knight Frank reports that GCCs took 32% of Pune leasing in H1 2026 (as reported by Punekar News, July 2026).

Maharashtra's policy posture

Two instruments matter. Both are policy, not announcement.

IT and ITES Policy 2023. Issued by Government Resolution ITP-2021/CR-170/Ind-2 dated 27 June 2023 and valid for five years or until replaced. Mondaq's summary (September 2023) lists tiered stamp duty exemptions by zone, property tax for IT units at residential rates, and additional FSI for IT parks. The government's booklet is published at industry.maharashtra.gov.in.

Global Capability Centre Policy 2025. Published by the Industries Department (policy document), valid to FY 2029-30, with stated targets of about 400 new GCCs and 4 lakh high-skilled jobs (Mondaq, November 2025). On 20 August 2026 the state notified operational guidelines by Government Resolution, as reported by Social News XYZ: Zone I covers the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and the Pune Metropolitan Region; capital subsidy of up to 20% on plant and machinery invested after 1 April 2025, capped from Rs 10 crore for small units to Rs 100 crore for mega units; and a payroll subsidy of up to Rs 50,000 per employee per year for up to 100 employees over three years.

Talent base

• Maharashtra had 4.65 million students in higher education in AISHE 2023-24, and engineering and technology was 12.9% of undergraduate enrolment nationally (British Council summary of the survey, July 2026).
• Pune district had 517 colleges in AISHE 2023-24, the third-highest district count after Bengaluru Urban (1,148) and Jaipur (742), as reported by Zee News (July 2026). The AISHE 2021-22 count was 475 (Careers360, January 2024).
• No government figure for Pune's annual engineering graduate output was found.

Commercial real estate

The submarkets an occupier will hear about are Hinjewadi and Wakad in the west, Kharadi and Viman Nagar in the east, Magarpatta and Hadapsar in the south-east, Baner and Balewadi in the north-west, and the older central business district. Brokerages group these differently. Knight Frank names Hinjawadi and Wakad as the drivers of its "PBD West", which took 33% of H1 2026 transactions, with "SBD East" at 26% (Punekar News, July 2026). Cushman & Wakefield reports SBD East at 56% and PBD West at 33% of Q2 2026 leasing (Free Press Journal, July 2026).

City-level figures, attributed:

• Knight Frank reports, H1 2026: 6.6 million sq ft transacted, up 29% year on year; average transacted rent INR 81.7 per sq ft per month, up 6% year on year.
• Cushman & Wakefield reports, Q2 2026: 3.22 million sq ft of gross leasing, up 54% quarter on quarter; GCCs about 52% of it; vacancy 13.2%; stock-weighted average rents up 2.7% year on year.

The two firms count differently. We could not fetch a submarket-level rent table from a named report, so no submarket rent appears here.

Infrastructure and mobility

• Pune Metro. Line 1 runs PCMC to Swargate and Line 2 runs Vanaz to Ramwadi; Civil Court appears on both lists (Pune Metro route map). Line 3, Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar, is a PMRDA public-private project of 23.23 km and 23 stations; the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety had cleared 12 stations and PMRDA planned to open 17 in a first phase, with inauguration "likely" at the end of September 2026 (Nativeplanet, 15 September 2026).
• Pune airport. The Airports Authority of India lists Pune International Airport at Lohegaon as a civil enclave (AAI). The new terminal opened to airlines on 14 July 2024, with about 52,000 sq m of floor area, capacity of 9 million passengers a year and ten aerobridges (Live From A Lounge, July 2024).
• Navi Mumbai International Airport. The first terminal has an annual capacity of 20 million passengers, rising to 90 million when fully built; phase 1 cost Rs 19,646 crore (News on AIR, 6 October 2025). Operations commenced on 25 December 2025 (News on AIR). It gives Pune a second international gateway; we do not quote a travel time.

The practical operating texture

• Shops and Establishments (required by law). The Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 2017 applies to establishments with ten or more workers; apply for registration within sixty days of commencing business; women may be required to work only between 7 a.m. and 9.30 p.m., and outside those hours only with their consent and with protection of "dignity, honour and safety"; the state may exempt classes of establishment by notification (Act text).
• Labour Codes (required by law, in transition). The four Labour Codes came into force on 21 November 2025, replacing 29 central laws; existing rules and notifications remain in force until new rules are finalised (DD News, 21 November 2025).

What is policy, what is announced, and what is neither

• Policy: the IT and ITES Policy 2023; the GCC Policy 2025; the Shops and Establishments Act 2017; the Labour Codes.
• Announced: the GCC policy operational guidelines (reported as notified, not read by us); the Metro Line 3 opening; full Labour Code rules.
• Neither: submarket rents, engineering graduate counts for Pune, commute times to either airport.

Check before you rely on this

1. Whether Metro Line 3 is carrying passengers, and which stations are open.
2. The text of the GCC Policy 2025 operational guidelines GR of August 2026, which sets zones, thresholds and caps.
3. Central and Maharashtra rules under the Labour Codes, which may change registration and night-work rules described here.