Economy

Mumbai contributes 10% of all factory employment, 40% of all income tax collections, 60% of all customs duty collections, 20% of all central excise tax collections, 40% of India’s foreign trade and Rupees 40 billion (USUSD 9 billion) in corporate taxes[5]. A number of Indian financial institutions have headquarters in downtown Mumbai, including the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Reserve Bank of India, the National Stock Exchange of India, the Mint, and numerous conglomerates (the Tata Group, Godrej and Reliance etc). Many foreign banks and financial institutions also have branches in this area.

Up until the 1980s, Mumbai owed its prosperity largely to textile mills and the seaport, but the local economy has since then diversified to include engineering, diamond polishing, healthcare and information technology. Mumbai’s status as the state capital means that state and federal government employees make up a large percentage of the city’s workforce. Mumbai also has a large unskilled and semi-skilled labour population, who primarily earn their livelihood as hawkers, taxi drivers, mechanics and other such blue collar professions. The port and shipping industry too employs many residents, directly or indirectly.

The entertainment industry is the other major employer in Mumbai. Most of India’s major television and satellite networks are headquartered in Mumbai, as well as its major publishing houses. The epicentre of the Hindi movie industry, Bollywood, is also located in Mumbai, along with its largest studios and movie production houses.

Civic administration

The city is administered by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), with executive power vested in the Municipal Commissioner, who is an IAS officer appointed by the state government. The Corporation comprises 227 directly elected Councillors representing the twenty four municipal wards [6], five nominated Councillors, and a titular Mayor. The BMC is in charge of the civic and infrastructure needs of the metropolis. An Assistant Municipal Commissioner oversees each ward for administrative purposes. Almost all the state political parties field candidates in the elections for Councillors.

The metropolitan area forms two districts of Maharashtra, with each district under the jurisdiction of a District Collector. The Collectors are in charge of property records and revenue collection for the Federal Government, and oversee the national elections held in the city.

The Mumbai Police is headed by a Police Commissioner, who is an IPS officer. The Mumbai Police comes under the state Home Ministry. The city is divided into seven police zones and seventeen traffic police zones, each headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police. The Traffic Police is a semi-autonomous body under the Mumbai Police.

Mumbai is the seat of the Bombay High Court, which exercises jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra and Goa, and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Mumbai also has two lower courts, the Small Causes Court for civil matters, and the Sessions Court for criminal cases. The city elects six members to the Lok Sabha and thirty-four members to the Maharashtra State Assembly.

Transport

Most of Mumbai’s inhabitants rely on public transport to travel to and from their workplace due to the lack of car parking spaces, traffic bottlenecks, and generally poor road conditions. The city is the headquarters of two rail divisions - the Central Railway (CR) (headquartered at Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly known as Victoria Terminus)), and the Western Railway (WR) (headquartered at Churchgate).

The backbone of the city’s transport, the Mumbai Suburban Railway, is composed of three seperate networks running the length of the city, in a north-south direction. The Western Railway runs along the western region of the city, while the Central Railway covers most of the central and northeast parts of the metropolis. Both lines extend into the exurbia, each covering a total one-way length of around 125 km. The Harbour Line is a sub-division of the Central Railway, covering a distance of 54 km along the south-eastern section of the city, near the docks, and extending into Navi Mumbai. Mumbai is well connected by trains to all parts of India.

Public buses run by the BEST (an autonomous body under the BMC) cover almost all parts of the metropolis, as well as parts of Navi Mumbai and Thane district. Buses are used for commuting short to medium distances, while train fares are more economical for long distance commutes. The BEST fleet consists of single-decker, double-decker, air-conditioned and vestibule buses. The BEST also operates ferries across creeks in northern Mumbai.