Delhi Ousts Mumbai, Becomes India’s Economic Capital

Delhi has knocked out Mumbai as the economic capital of India, taking the 30th spot among the top 50 metropolitan economic entities globally in 2015, as per the latest data put out by Oxford Economics. Mumbai was ranked 31st in the list, just one spot behind Delhi.

According to the data released by the advisory firm, the total gross domestic product (GDP) of Mumbai extended urban agglomeration (EUA), consisting of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Vasai-Virar, Bhiwandi and Panvel, stood at $368 billion. On the other hand, the Delhi EUA, which includes Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, had a total GDP of $370 billion. Furthermore, the forecast for 2030 shows that Delhi and Mumbai will move further up in the list, with the former predicted to be at the 11th spot and the latter at the 14th.

Talking to the Times of India, Prof Bino Paul, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), said post-liberalisation, Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) seems to have outpaced Mumbai metropolitan in physical infrastructure and social infrastructure. "Perhaps, what makes Delhi NCR more buoyant and inspirational than Mumbai may be attributed to massive spatial consolidation and contentedness that have emanated from synchronisation between state and business, in particular in locating industry decisions," the daily quoted him as saying.