Chakan is a census town in India, in Pune district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. While agriculture remains an important factor, the town's industrial development is quickly urbanizing the area.It is a developing town. Chakan is about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the centre of Pune, on NH 50 between Pune and Nashik cities. It is also on the roads that connect the Mumbai-Pune Highway to the Pune-Nashik Highway, and to the Pune-Ahmednagar-Aurangabad Highway. It is about 150 kilometres (93 mi) from Mumbai, 120 kilometres (75 mi) from Ahmednagar and 175 kilometres (109 mi) from Nashik. Historically, Chakan has been a wholesale agricultural produce trading hub. Its agricultural market was a major onion trading center. Chakan is now home to a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) promoted by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). It has since evolved into a major automobile hub. It hosts automobile production plants for the Volkswagen Group, Daimler-Benz, Mahindra & Mahindra, Jaguar Land Rover and Bajaj Auto, General Electric, Hyundai. Over 750 large and small industries, including a number of automobile component manufacturers, are based in the area. Shiroli Chandus village, located 6 km north of Chakan, had been identified as the probable site for the proposed Pune International Airport, but due to the protests by the villagers & uneven topography, the site has been shifted to Purandar.