Mumbai: The Revival [Pg.2]

Contn.
Mumbai: The Revival

Rush-Hour Anarchy

THE COMMUTE SCENE: With 55,000 taxis, travelling inside the city is not a problem... but then Mumbaikars reside hours away in the suburbs

If Bombay has grabbed pole position, it could also mean that those polled are willing to gloss over the rush-hour anarchy, the ever-deepening potholes, the obscene cost of land, the obsolete rent laws (which is why some 500,000 homes are lying locked up because residents fear they may lose their property), the flyover that just wouldn't come up (at Andheri), and the proposed flyover that Mumbai's upscale residents don't want (at Peddar Road). For every Bombayite who cribs about being sardined in a train, there's a counterpart who's glad to reach home in the wee hours of the morning via the last local after high-jinks at his favourite ''ladies'' bar, which these days shuts only at 1.30 am.

There's the Bollywood-buff who's so enamoured by Lata Mangeshkar's voice that he's willing to scream his protest against the ramp that was to fly over her home (Lataji herself protested against the construction since she felt the resultant increase in noise and air pollution levels would damage those vital chords).

PERCEPTUAL TAKES

ť CEOs like Mumbai's connectivity to international cities AND can't seem to find anything at all that is wrong with Mumbai
ť Spouses of executives like the power situation in Mumbai BUT law and order is an area of concern for them
ť Policy makers are impressed with the commuting situation in Mumbai BUT worry about the city's ability to attract foreign investment
ť Business school students are thrilled with employment opportunities in Mumbai BUT don't like the city's weather at all

And there must be those forty-something suburban careerists whose plunging graphs got a quick, if somewhat unrelated, boost when they heard that Bombay will finally get a rock concert of substance-Roger Waters is apparently scheduled to play in the city in April, 2002.

But periodic gigs like that of the former Pink Floyd frontman won't be good enough to keep Bombay going. For that the infrastructure has to be beefed up. Proposals for ferry systems, bridges over the sea, expressways, multi-storied parking lots, six-lane roadways, a road-cum-rail link, and an underground railway have been blueprinted by sundry consultants, but most of these projects remain, after several years, still firmly pinned to the drawing board.

Amidst that inaction, there's one section of the city's industry that feels that Bombay has the potential of becoming a full-fledged international finance centre (IFC) on the lines of a New York or a London or a Singapore or a Hong Kong, the lesser optimistic ones (but optimistic nevertheless) feel an offshore financial centre (OFC) is a better option (a la Mauritius or the Bahamas) and the pragmatic feel that a special economic zone (SEZ) carved out within the city would be a good starting point in the journey towards an OFC or an IFC.

THE CITY: With its traditional manufacturing base eroding and infotech yet to make any major mark in the city, Mumbai plans to take the financial centre route in its quest to become India's New Apple

In fact, to debate the ''challenges of creating an IFC,'' last fortnight Tata Consultancy Services even held a summit last fortnight, where the reactions of the speakers to the idea ranged from gung-ho to incredulity. The premise is that Bombay, with its status as the financial capital of India and its skilled English-speaking workforce, will be able to work as a magnet to attract foreign investment into the country. ''If we can make Bombay an OFC, much of the Rs 20,000 crore that passes through Mauritius could be channelised in this direction,'' points out Krishnamurthy, who is also Chairman of the CII's sub-committee on OFCs. According to Girija Pande, Regional Director, Asia-Pacific, TCS, China is able to attract huge foreign investment largely because it has two financial centres: Hong Kong and Shanghai. ''An IFC will serve as an investment platform,'' he explains. But for that to happen, ''the skyline will need to change, and the transport system too. We have the software in place, but not the hardware.''

Jobs@mumbai

R. Suresh, CEO, Stanton Chase
"Mumbai has been at the front in aggregating talent"

Mumbai is the microcosm of the global corporate, financial and services sectors. It is a city that is seamlessly interlinked to global as well as regional markets, be they stockmarkets, financial markets, trade markets, or job markets. That is the main reason why one often comes across instances of cross-border migration of talent from Mumbai to other cities in the world and vice-versa. The profile of sectors and corporates in Mumbai that hire leadership and operative talent are predominantly banking and financial services, conglomerates of Indian origin that operate mainly in the manufacturing sector, multinationals that have had long presence in India, and new-generation businesses such as telecom services, organised retail, or insurance amongst others. However, the key differentiator of Mumbai's corporate activities (as opposed to those of any other cities in India) is the scale and depth of business entities. This poses greater challenges to the professional class to 'stretch and excel'. It isn't as if the new economy has passed Mumbai by: the city has always had its own share of medium- to large-sized software services companies with their operations based in software export zones across Mumbai. Thus, be it financial services, industrial, even new economy businesses, Mumbai has been at the forefront in aggregating talent and is among the better cities in India to work in.

Along with a total infrastructure revamp, regulations too will have to be relaxed to accommodate the IFC or OFC, to bring down the cost of doing business. For instance, capital gains tax and stamp duties will have to be abolished. ''The pre-requisites for an IFC are second-generation reforms. Bank finance, for example, must be allowed for capital market-related activity, if liquidity has to improve,'' adds Krishnamurthy.

Cart Before The Horse?

Suffice it to say that Bombay becoming an IFC or an OFC isn't going to happen any time soon. That's why realists like Nasser Munjee, CEO, Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) and founder of Bombay First (whose mission is to ''make Bombay a better place to live, work and invest in''), feel that talking about an IFC is putting the cart before the horse. ''Building infrastructure for an IFC is time-consuming and expensive. It took Singapore 30 years to get there. Our focus should be on bringing down the cost of doing business and improving the quality of life, which is deteriorating.''

Clearly the immediate priority is to reduce the pressure on a city that's bursting at the seams. A start has been made by splitting it into three major centres: Nariman Point, the Bandra-Kurla complex and New Bombay. Munjee says it's imperative that Bombay is connected to the hinterland. The expressway to Pune (which incidentally also has optic fibre ducts running through it) is one step in that direction, but its utility could be increased if a similar highway is built to link Pune to Nasik, and one from Nasik to Bombay, thereby making it a productive triangle. The hub of this triangle will be Panvel, 60 km off the city, the place where a port is located, and where an airport is being planned.

MUMBAI DOCK: It all began here, the true bay of commerce, where foreign exchanbge--in trade and ideas--made Mumbai what it is today

INDIGO: The day never ends in the entertainment capital with many of its bars and restaurants open to tireless partiers till 1.30 am

The state government, meantime, is doing its bit to ensure that the pressure on Bombay is eased, by promoting what it calls a ''knowledge corridor'' along the Bombay-New Bombay-Pune route.

Various business parks, some as large as 1-2 million sq feet, have been set up for it-enabled and software services. ''We are providing office space with basic facilities and connectivity to the pent-up talent outside Mumbai,'' says Development Commissioner Khan. Similar, smaller facilities are being put up in the interiors of Maharashtra, in places like Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Kolhapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar, Latur and Satara. In the next phase, Khan says the endeavour is to ''go in for projects with an integrated environment in places far off, providing recreational and residential facilities along with the workplace.''

Such efforts will go a long way in restricting the load that the city is carrying. Bombay today is at the crossroads. It is the financial centre, but the cost of doing business here could soon outweigh the benefits. It has the talent, but isn't able to improve their quality of life. The only good news today is that there exist few alternatives. Bombay is the best, largely by default.

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