The hustle-bustle and financial muscle

Mumbai First a corporate initiative with publicprivate participation hosted a discussion titled lsquoMumbai 75 Is Mumbai still the Economic Powerhouse of Indiarsquo on Tuesday evening at the Cricket Club of India CCI in South Mumbai The talk focused on the trajectory of Mumbairsquos economic growthAn expert panel looked at lsquoeconomic powerhousersquo through their lens The panel comprised Dr Shirish Sankhe senior partner McKinsey amp Co Dr Brinda Jagirdar former Chief Economist SBI Shankar Jadhav MD at Bombay Stock Exchange BSE Investment Ltd and Head of Strategy at BSE and Dr Haripriya Gundimeda Prof Department of Humanities and Social Sciences IIT BombayLook backMumbai First CEO Dr Neville A Mehta began ldquoThis is an occasion to look back in history and reminisce about the cityrsquos journey of glory and resiliencerdquo Mehtarsquos address captured the spirit of the session moderated by Aarti Wig as it was about looking back analysing the current drivers of growth and talking about the future Moderator Wig said at the outset ldquoOver the last 75 years the Indian dream has been deeply intertwined with the Mumbai dream Today as we have this conversation against the backdrop of Indiarsquos G20 presidency and her global economic aspirations we have to ask ourselves what are the key ingredients of a robust economic centre Talent institutions corporate activity infrastructure climate change and equity What will Mumbai look like for the next 75 years Is it the first choice for the start up entrepreneur Has its real estate priced itself out of competition with cities like Bengaluru Gurgaon and Pune We have to ask ourselves what we have to do to ensure that the IndiaMumbai story does not decouple over the next 75 yearsrdquoAlso Read Christmas gift gives East Indians a liftWelcome othersDr Jagirdar said on an upbeat note ldquoAs Indiarsquos GDP grows it is very natural that India has and will have many more cities coming up as economic powerhouses I think we need to welcome that and not be worried about itrdquo The economist acknowledged ldquoMumbai is still growing but we have to see how we can manage Infrastructure I will rate as the No 1 issue The second is the quality of life It is not just the economy it is the liveability index From hospitals schools open spaces playgroundshellip upping that I think that will help us compete with others and governance is important toordquo Jagirdar said even while acknowledging challenges ldquothe transformation from a fishing village to a throbbing metropolis shows its quintessential resilience and ability to include all people and cultures and embrace change in a fastmoving worldrdquoDefine itldquoWhether Mumbai is an economic powerhouse or an economically prosperous powerhouse is what we should be askingrdquo stated Dr Gundimeda It was Mumbai yeah for Jadhav MD BSE Investments He said ldquoAsk any Indian which is the city of your dreams and they will say Mumbai Every year you see people coming to Mumbai We have a development plan We have infrastructure but the problem is that we are building mostly for the rich We are saying we have cars passing on the highway or freeway trans harbour link or Sea link or whatever but we are not talking about the bottom of the pyramid Mumbai has the largest number of slums of any city and these are the people the government should look at and support We have a large workforce that needs to stay here So the government has to provide something like cheaper housing for themrdquoDesividesiSankhe said ldquoIt is not about beating our chest and saying we are bigger Bigger in fact does not necessarily mean better When it comes to governance fundinghellip for instance I was very impressed with our comprehensive travel plan made in 2006 putting money into Mumbai infrastructure I will call a hit not a miss The misses would be I think an economic masterplan and very effective strong leadership and governance for the cityrdquo Sankhe pointed to the robust entertainment industry in Mumbai and called the city a sort of ldquocombination between Singapore Dubai Los Angeles and New Yorkrdquo as the experts ended and the interaction began