Pune is the seventh most populous city in India and the second-largest city in the state of Maharashtra, with an estimated population of 7.4 million as of 2020. It has been ranked as “the most liveable city in India” several times. Along with the municipal corporation limits of PCMC and the three cantonment towns of Camp, Khadki and Dehu Road, Pune forms the urban core of the eponymous Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR).

Pune is widely regarded as the second major “IT hub of India” and the top “automobile and manufacturing hub of India”. It is known as the Oxford of the East with the presence of a wide range of educational institutions. India’s first indigenously run girls’ school was started in Pune by Savitribai Phule. The city has emerged as a major educational hub in recent decades, with nearly half of the total number of international students in the country studying in Pune. Research institutes of information technology, education, management and training attract students and professionals from India and overseas.

With an estimated nominal GDP of Rs. 3,31,478 crores for year 2019-20, Pune District is the third largest contributor to the economy of Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Thane. Pune has the fifth largest metropolitan economy and the sixth highest per capita income in the country. As per the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (Government of Maharashtra), the GDP per capita of Pune District in 2019-20 is Rs. 3,16,848. The key sectors of the local economy are education, manufacturing and information technology (IT). 

Pune has historically been known as a center for higher education and has been referred to as the educational capital of India. In 2016, it was reported that nearly 500,000 students from across India and abroad study in Pune at nine universities and more than a hundred educational institutes. Pune is a major manufacturing and industrial hub. It has established industries in the fields of automobile, electronics & hardware, aerospace pharmaceuticals, locomotives etc. Industry is mainly located in PCMC Administered areas, Chakan, Indapur, and Ranjangaon areas of the metropolitan region.