Mumbai

Mumbai began as a wedding gift—seven islands transferred from Portugal to England in 1661 as part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry to Charles II. The Portuguese had seized this archipelago from the Gujarat Sultanate in 1534, naming it Bom Bahia (good bay), but the Crown found it a financial liability and leased it to the East India Company in 1668 for just £10 annually. What seemed like discarded territory contained the seed of an empire: a deep natural harbor on the Arabian Sea.

The Company transformed these fever-ridden islands into a commercial fortress. The Hornby Vellard project merged all seven islands into one landmass by 1845, creating the physical foundation for expansion. When the Suez Canal opened in 1869, Mumbai's position became critical—it was the first major port ships encountered after transiting the canal. Cotton exports during the American Civil War created the city's first merchant dynasties; textile mills followed, establishing India's industrial beachhead.

Today Mumbai generates 6.16% of India's GDP from a metropolitan area of 23 million people. It handles 70% of India's maritime trade and 70% of capital transactions. The three largest private Indian companies—Tata Group, Reliance Industries, and Aditya Birla Group—are all headquartered here. The city hosts the third-highest number of billionaires of any city globally, with collective wealth approaching $960 billion. Bollywood produces over 1,500 films annually, making Mumbai a cultural export engine rivaling Hollywood.

The 2024-2025 infrastructure push signals acceleration: the 21.8 km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link opened in January 2024, and the new Navi Mumbai International Airport began operations in December 2025. NITI Aayog targets doubling the metropolitan GDP from $140 billion to $300 billion by 2030—an organism that began as unwanted tissue now functions as the nation's primary economic organ.