• Mumbai, also known as Bombay, is the capital of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India and the fourth most populous city in the world. Along with the neighbouring urban areas including Navi Mumbai and Thane, it is one of the most populous urban regions in the world. Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a natural harbour.
• Seven islands came together to constitute present day Mumbai. During the mid-18th century, Mumbai was reshaped by reclaiming the area between the seven islands from the sea. Bombay was characterized by economic and educational development in the 19th century. Upon India’s independence, the city was incorporated into Bombay State. In 1960, a new state of Maharashtra was created with Bombay as the capital. The city was renamed Mumbai in 1996.
• Mumbai is the financial and entertainment capital of India. The city houses important financial institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India, the SEBI, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the National Stock Exchange of India and corporate headquarters of numerous Indian companies and multinational corporations. Mumbai has evolved into a global financial hub.
• It is home to some of India’s premier scientific and nuclear institutes such as BARC, NPCL, AERB, AECI and the Department of Atomic Energy. The city also houses India’s Bollywood movie industry. Mumbai’s business opportunities, as well as its potential to offer a higher standard of living, attract migrants from all over India, making the city a melting pot of many communities and cultures.
• In 1950, municipal limits of Bombay were expanded by merging the Bombay Suburban District and Bombay Island City to form Greater Bombay Municipal Corporation (GBMC).
• In 1979, a sister township of New Bombay(Navi Mumbai) was founded by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) across Thane and Raigad districts to help decongest and control Bombay’s population.
• Textile industry in Mumbai largely disappeared in 1982. Since then, Mumbai’s defunct cotton mills have become the focus of major redevelopment.
• Dharavi, Asia’s second largest slum, is located in central Mumbai and houses between 800,000 to one million people in 2.39 sq.km, making it one of the most densely populated areas on Earth.

Mumbai Real Estate market

• Approximately 7,200 Mumbai residential projects were launched during the third quarter of the year. This is a decline of 34% from the previous quarter. The primary reasons were low sales and delays in approvals. The new launches were concentrated in Navi Mumbai (64%), Central Suburbs (13%), Thane (10%) and Western Suburbs (7%). Most new launches were in the mid-end segment (64%).
• Capital values remained almost constant in many places except South Central Mumbai where values declined marginally by 2%. Rental values too have remained stable due to low supply and stable demand.
• Preference for ready-to-occupy units has increased among end-buyers owing to delays in under-construction projects. Consequently, developers have started launching projects with lower ticket sizes: 2 BHK configurations with a size of 1,200-1,300 sq.ft being the most popular.
• Residential capital values in the city are expected to face downward pressure due to subdued transaction activity and increase in launches during the last quarter of the year. Few developers have delayed launches in order to revisit plans and change apartment sizes based on market demand. Rental values are expected to be stable in Mumbai.

Demographics:

• According to the 2011 census, the population of the city is 12,479,608. The city has seen a huge migration of population from all over India in search of employment opportunities. The population density is approximately 20,482 persons per sq.km. The living space is 4.5 sq.mt per person.
• According to 2011 census, the sex ratio in the island city is 838 (per 1,000 male) and 857 in the suburbs. Greater Mumbai has a literacy rate of 94.7%. The literacy rate in Mumbai slums is 69% making these slums the most literate slums in India.

Employment Opportunities

• Mumbai is India’s most populated city. It is the financial and commercial capital of the country as it generates 6.16% of the total GDP. The city contributes to 10% of factory employment, 25% of industrial output, 33% of income tax collections, 60% of customs duty collections, 20% of central excise tax collections, 40% of India’s foreign trade and 4000 crore in corporate taxes. Mumbai has witnessed an economic boom since the liberalization of 1991, the finance boom in the mid-nineties and the IT, export, services and outsourcing boom in 2000s.
• Although Mumbai had prominently figured as the hub of economic activity of India in the 1990s, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region is presently witnessing a reduction in its contribution to India’s GDP.
• Many of India’s conglomerates such as Larsen and Toubro, State Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Tata Group, Godrej and Reliance, and five of the Fortune Global 500 companies are based in Mumbai.
• The key sectors contributing to the city’s economy are gems and jewellery, leather, IT and ITES, textiles, and entertainment. Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and Nariman Point are Mumbai’s major financial centres. The Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) in Andheri and the International Infotech Park (Navi Mumbai) offer excellent facilities to IT companies.
• Current situation indicates that the western zone has 33% of the total occupied space in the city implying a large proportion of employment opportunities here. The central zone contributes to 30% of employment.

Connectivity

• Mumbai has several major national highways: National Highway 3, National Highway 4, National Highway 8, National Highway 17 and National Highway 222. The Mumbai-Pune Expressway was the first expressway built in India. There are several important highways such as Mumbai Nashik Expressway, Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway, Western Freeway and Eastern Freeway under construction. The Bandra-Worli Sea Link bridge and Mahim Causeway link the island city to the western suburbs. The three major arterial roads of the city are the Eastern Express Highway, the Sion Panvel Expressway and the Western Express Highway.
• Mumbai is the headquarters of two of Indian Railways zones: the Central Railway (CR) and the Western Railway (WR). Mumbai is also well connected to most parts of India by the Indian Railways. Long-distance trains originate from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Dadar, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai Central, Bandra Terminus, Andheriand Borivali.
• Public transport systems in Mumbai include the Mumbai Suburban Railway, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses, taxis, auto rickshaws and ferries. Suburban railway and BEST bus services together accounted for about 88% of the passenger traffic in 2008.
• The Mumbai Suburban Railway, popularly known as ‘local trains’ forms the backbone of Mumbai’s transport system. Mumbai’s suburban rail systems carry more than half of the Indian Railways daily carrying capacity. Trains are overcrowded during peak hours. The Mumbai rail network is spread at an expanse of 319 route kilometres and is growing. The Mumbai Monorail and Mumbai Metro are under construction and expected to be partially operational in 2014, relieving overcrowding on the existing network.
• Public buses run by BEST cover almost all parts of the city as well as parts of Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar and Thane. Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses provide intercity transport from Mumbai to other major cities of Maharashtra and India. Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) also operates its Volvo buses from Navi Mumbai to Bandra, Dindoshi and Borivali.
• The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is the busiest airport in India in terms of passenger traffic. An upgrade plan was initiated in 2006, targeted at increasing the capacity of the airport to handle up to 40 million passengers annually. The proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport to be built in the Kopra-Panvel area has been sanctioned by the Indian Government and will help in relieving traffic burden on the existing airport.
• Mumbai has two major ports, Mumbai Port Trust and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, which lies in Navi Mumbai. Mumbai Port has one of the best natural harbours in the world. Jawaharlal Nehru Port is the busiest and most modern major port in India.