“The sheer number of branches of banks and the few global captive centres in satellite areas around Pune are probably the reason that this sector rivals IT. But the difference has to be marginal, because the financial services cannot compete with IT in terms of volumes. Each IT centre employs 1000-2000 heads. Where the banks probably make up is in their sheer numbers of branches. Also if you see the kind of employment egnerated in areas like Chakan because of the manufacturing industry, it's easy to see why Pune has outstripped even some of the metros," he said.

The study noted that Pune is an emerging city in the software industry, with an already strong manufacturing foothold with industry giants and factories in various sectors.

The ASSOCHAM Research Bureau (ARB) tracked data for 60 cities and 30 sectors offering job opportunities in the country. The report is based on the sample of 32,000 vacancies being offered in the organised sector. Of the 60 cities, seven were tier-1, 14 tier-2 and 39 tier-3.