Ride-hailing platform Ola plans to set up a new technology center in Pune and hire about 1,000 engineers over the next few years, as per media reports.

As per sources close to the development, the tech center in Pune will be the second such center for the company in India after Bengaluru and will cater to global and local solutions for all businesses of Ola across the group. An Ola spokesperson confirmed the development but declined to offer more details when contacted by Indian Express.

As per the report, the Pune facility – which will be operational by the end of this quarter – will help create jobs for 1,000 skilled technology professionals over the next three years.

In June last year, Ola had opened an Advanced Technology Centre in San Francisco Bay to accelerate its work across electric and connected vehicles.

Ola has over 4,000 employees with about 1,500 of them in engineering roles. The announcement comes on close heels of rival Uber also recently announcing strengthening its engineering team in India. It has roped in Amazon veteran Manikandan Thangarathnam as Senior Director to lead all rider and platform engineering teams in Bengaluru. In addition, the US-based company also plans to hire 85 more engineers in India in addition to its previous announcement of adding 140 engineers in the country.

The hiring comes as Uber aims to strengthen its tech capabilities, as it positions India as a technology hub, building, and innovating for the world.

Interestingly, both platforms had a month earlier announced job cuts after their business was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with the gradual unlocking of cities and businesses, it appears that the ride hailing platforms are also gradually returning to normalcy.