NITI Aayog sets roadmap to increase Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s GDP to $300 billion in five years

The NITI Aayog has charted a development plan for the development of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), which aims to double the region’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the next five years. The planning agency targets to make Mumbai and its satellite towns a global economic hub.  

At present the region’s GDP is Rs 12 lakh crore ($140 billion) and it should reach Rs 26 lakh crore ($300 billion) by 2030, NITI Aayog said in its report submitted to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde by its CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said. 

At present, there are employment opportunities for one crore people in the MMR, however, there is a need to create job opportunity for 30 lakh more people, the report added.  

CM Shinde said infrastructure and communication facilities are the foundation for the state’s development and work was underway in that direction. 

The report highlighted seven sectors for the state government to focus on: Developing Mumbai into a global services hub, facilitating affordable housing, transforming MMR into global tourism centre, integrated development of ports in MMR, creating an industrial and logistics hub, development of cities and sustainable, all-inclusive infrastructure facilities of global standards.  

In private sector, investment of about Rs 10-11 lakh crore was needed, and cities should be developed as growth engines, the report said. 

MMR comprises Mumbai city, suburbs, Palghar, Raigad and Thane districts, and accounts for a third of Maharashtra’s GDP, according to the report.  

CM Shinde said his government is working on affordable housing, employment generation, a data centre in Navi Mumbai and the Alibag multi-modal corridor, Recently, investment projects worth Rs 80,000 crore have been sanctioned, and efforts are on to develop the 720 km-coastline of the state for tourism, the chief minister added.