From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Pune, previously called Poona, is a major city in Maharashtra, India. It has a population of about 4 million.
It is a major industrial centre, particularly for automobile manufactuing. Pune is home to one of the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturers - Bajaj Auto. It has many institutions of higher education, including the University of Pune, several colleges of engineering, IUCAA (Inter University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics), TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research), NCL (National Chemical Laboratory) and the Armed Forces Medical College. The National Defense Academy, which trains officers of India's armed forces is located at Khadakvasla, on the outskirts of Pune.
Students from all over India come to Pune for higher education, particularly engineering and management. Pune is rapidly becoming a major centre of Information Technology in India.
It is following in the footsteps of Bangalore and becoming a large cosmopolitan city with trendy coffee shops, food joints and big multiplex cinema houses.
This is also a historically important city. The Maratha empire was headquartered here, and the district has several hill forts along with many ancient temples.
With the construction of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, this city is now only a three hour drive from Mumbai.
