 Background - For one of our customer research projects, Kaytek's Consulting Division looked at some of the characteristics of Mumbai (Bombay) which make it India's financial capital.
As Mumbai is being projected as a future Asian capital, it is important to understand some of the drivers that generate the need for both organized and unorganized finance in Mumbai.
Mumbai's salient
features that generate the demand for capital are :
 Large Financial Institutions - Mumbai is the financial capital of the country with all Banks,
Financial Institutions, Largest Stock Markets (Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE and National Stock Exchange - NSE ) head quartered here.
State Capital - Capital of the state of Maharashtra which is still perceived to be India's
most progressive state which attracts the largest share of
committed foreign investment as per various estimates.
Large SMB / SME Base - Mumbai has India's Largest Concentration of Small Medium Sized Business & Organisations. More than 15,000 SME's / SMB's are here.
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Rich Residents - Mumbai has the richest population in India,contributing
almost 1/3rd (12,000 Crores) of India's Income Tax collections.
Bollywood Base - Mumbai is India's Entertainment Capital being the base for
the Hindi Film, Television and Stage Industry.
E-Commerce Market - As per an earlier NASSCOM survey, Mumbai is India's largest E-Commerce market.
Large Entrepreneurial Activity - During the Dot Com Boom, It had the Fourth Largest Dot Com Companies in the World.
Financial Cluster Attraction - Due to the large concentration of financial players already in Mumbai, it is becoming an attractive destination for IT Enabled
services where Indian manpower will service global customers
using the Internet.
Expensive City - The cost of living in Mumbai is atleast 30 - 40 % higher than
other cities primarily on account of higher real estate costs. This generates the need for larger quanta of finance per capita of population.
Lead Trend Setter - Mumbai is considered to be a lead market in many product and
service sectors. What happens here is usually followed by other
Indian cities and metros with a time lag of 3 - 5 years. Mumbai's Page 3 culture spawns imitators all over India and even in neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Dubai.
Most Attractive Soft Power Drivers - Mumbai still has the best educational, social, cultural, power,
entertainment & transport infrastructure as compared to other
cities in India.
Parallel Economy Mumbai has a huge parallel economy which has gigantic financing needs.
Dynamism - Since Mumbai's business landscape is changing from
manufacturing industries to service-oriented 'new economy type'
industries, their financing needs will also change.
These new-
economy type industries are not capital intensive like the
older manufacturing industries.
However, they are people
intensive. People have aspirations and needs. In Mumbai's
consumer culture, there would always exist a large requirement
for finance.
Competition Driven Excellence - There is tremendous competition in Mumbai to offer financial
services and products. Right from blue-chip Multinational Banks
to Neighborhood Pawn-Broking outfits, there are thousands of
players in the financial services industry that follow extremely aggressive Sales and Marketing Tactics.
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Global Players - Global Competition via Technology-Based Financial Players with
Deep Pockets, Long Term Low Return Patient Investors and Low-
Finance Fund Costs.
Organized Financial Services - ATM's being setup by foreign banks in most office, residential
localities, shopping malls, cinema multiplexes are extending the reach of Retail Banking in Mumbai.
Knowledge Economy - World-wide, finance is becoming less of an assets game and
more of an information game. Since Mumbai also has a well established Information Technology Infrastructure via the presence of software companies, BPO companies and reasonably good Power Infrastructure.
It's close proximity to Pune, a center of education and a fast growing global IT services hub, adds to it's formidable advantages.
Growth Neighbours - Also, Navi Mumbai as a satellite city to Mumbai is also growing very fast in the areas of Telecommunication, Education and Manufacturing.
One of the largest SEZ's (Special Economic Zone) is coming up near Panvel in Navi Mumbai. This is positioned to attract large global manufacturing investors and multi-national organizations.
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