The use of English and not Marathi is the key to make Mumbai a global financial player. This, according to the Centre, will help the city to compete with the world’s top three financial hubs
The use of English and not Marathi is the key to make Mumbai a global financial player. This, according to the Centre, will help the city to compete with the world’s top three financial hubs — London, New York and Hong Kong. Mumbai was ranked 39 in the global financial centres (GFC) index compiled by a UK agency two years ago. London topped the list, followed by New York and Hong Kong.
A 15-member expert panel appointed by the Union ministry of finance to upgrade Mumbai to a global hub has set the year 2020 as the deadline for the city to get there.
Dr KP Krishnan, the panel’s member secretary and a senior official in the ministry, said once the city became a global financial centre, it would attract business and finance from across the world.
Krishnan, who was in Mumbai on Friday, said in its report, the committee has identified the extensive use of English as among the city’s key strengths. Krishnan said the other obvious strength is the availability of huge human capital. “Also, the time zone for the city is such that it can do business with practically any city in the world.”
Krishnan, however, acknowledged that the weaknesses far outnumbered the strengths and that the city will need strong resolve, vision and political will to undertake wide-scale infrastructure and urban governance reforms to become a top GFC.
The panel says the city will do well to shed its image of being unfriendly to migrants. To attract at least 50,000 highly-qualified senior executives from global firms, most of whom will be foreigners, Mumbai needs to be hospitable and efficient.
It also needs to improve infrastructure including roads, sewage and water facilities, power supply and communication systems and transportation facilities. Also, frequent shut downs due to demonstrations on the streets need to be curtailed.
Krishnan recommended an agency to handle the city’s functioning, with a two-member team comprising an elected representative and an appointed bureaucrat, heading it. There was also an urgent need to develop quality housing to make high-end executives spend more business time in the city, he said.
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