New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) The BMW Group and Tata Technologies on Tuesday announced they are establishing an automotive software and IT development hub with locations in Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai.

The new joint venture (JV) will deliver automotive software, including software-defined vehicle (SDV) solutions for BMW Group’s premium vehicles and digital transformation solutions for its business IT.

The JV will commence operations with 100 employees and intends to grow to a four-digit number in the following years, the companies said in a statement.

“In international comparison, India boasts a large number of talents with outstanding software skills, who can contribute to our software competence,” said Christoph Grote, SVP of Software and E/E Architecture at BMW Group.

Developing vehicle software for the BMW Group means working with top-class processes and tools, which, in turn, gives “Indian software engineers the chance to shape state-of-the-art, premium automotive experiences in future fields such as highly automated driving and artificial intelligence,” he noted.

The main development and operations activities will be established at Bengaluru and Pune. In Chennai, the focus shall be on business IT solutions.

The JV will leverage Tata Technologies’ digital engineering expertise and talent pool in the country to contribute to the BMW Group’s strategic expansion of software coding capabilities across global IT hubs and 24/7 operations.

“Our collaboration with the BMW Group demonstrates our commitment to providing top-tier solutions in automotive software and digital engineering to customers across the world,” said Warren Harris, CEO and MD of Tata Technologies.