Pune, Aug. 7 : Ever since software developers and hardware experts made their presence felt in Pune in 2002, there has been no looking back for the Information Technology (IT) sector in this industrial city of Maharashtra.

The progressive trends in the IT industry have benefitted businesses like real estate, hospitality and consumer services to a great extent.

The business ventures of real estate and hospitality have directly and indirectly gained the optimum from the IT boom in Pune.

In the real estate market, there has been a visible growth where it has generated around 70,000 employment opportunities.

Around 30,000 to 40,000 commercial buildings and residential dwellings have been constructed annually.

"Since 2002 in Pune, the IT industry has been prospering. In the previous year, approximately 700,000 square feet (of floor space) has been occupied by the IT industries generating around 70,000 employments. To accommodate these employees around 30,000 to 40,000 new buildings were needed. This has direct impact on the real estate market," said Murali Santhanam, Director with the Top Source, a well-known payroll processing service provider based in Pune.

In fact, the real estate developers in Pune are working round the clock to bridge the gap between demand and supply caused by the IT boom.

"In Pune, there are approximately 30,000 to 40,000 new buildings and the gap between demand and supply is still there. The interest rates have also an impact on the growth where industrial sector is growing and employment in IT companies is growing with its direct impact on the real estate market. Till date, there is a positive effect on the growth," Murali Santhanam added.

People’s living standard has gradually changed with the increasing number of IT professionals, which indirectly boost other sectors like hotels, Malls and consumer services.

Besides, Hotel industry holds a huge potential to grow, as people are earning ample remuneration with attractive fringe benefits.

"People here have started to go for more outings with family and eating out as cooking at home is time consuming. The income is so much that it doesn’t feel a big deal to eat out in star-rated restaurants and spend a day or two at resort clubs," said Deepak Mohoni, an Economist in Pune.

Reportedly, the Information Technology (IT) and Bio-Technology (BT) sectors have driven Pune''s booming economy to a high per capita income, minimum being rupees
46,000 per annum, which is 50 per cent higher than the per capita national wages.

Apart from the growing IT sector, Pune boasts of many other lucrative services such as higher education and institutions offering professional courses.

The city attracts around a lakh of foreign students from 62 countries and their presence has supplemented the overall turnover in garments, entertainment and transport sectors.

"Because of IT, restaurants are performing well. As far as IT crowd is concerned they earn good salary and they can afford.

People eat out more than two to three times in a month. Being educated, they prefer good quality eating joints," said Ramprasad Shetty, a restaurant owner.

Well-known giants of the Indian software industry like Wipro, Infosys, Satyam, Tata Technologies, TCS, Kanbay, Veritas, Cognizant, PCS, Mahindra British Telecom and many more have their functional setups in Pune.

Owing to financial capital and rapidly improving infrastructure, Pune is considered as one of the most sought-after commercial destinations in India today.

Among the recent developments, which have added further value to Pune, is the expressway to Mumbai, reducing travelling distance and time substantially. (ANI)