Mumbai can be a global city only if it is slum free, says Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai 2.0 has been organised under the aegis of Project Mumbai, an independent think-tank, working to make Mumbai a better place to live.

Leading policy-makers such as Nitin Gadkari, Suresh Prabhu and Amitabh Kant, and corporate honchos like Uday Kotak, Adi Godrej, SN Subrahmanyan, GV Sanjay Reddy, Kalpana Morparia, along with Sachin Tendulkar and Pulela Gopichand from the sporting world were also present at the occasion.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari underlined the need to undertake projects which are viable ethically, economically, ecologically and environmentally. He stressed the need to reduce pollution, and rail and road traffic congestion by effective utilisation of water transport as it is 10 times cheaper than road transport.

Highlighting the efforts of his ministry, Gadkari said that nearly 750-800 hectare of eastern front of Mumbai will be developed in the days to come. Rs 10 billion worth international cruise terminal will be built, which will significantly up the cruise movement to 950 cruises and 20-25 lakh tourists visiting the city, adding $30,000 to the economy.

He spoke about future projects such as connecting South Mumbai to Neral and Mandavi, water transport to the new international airport and a state-of-the-art super-specialty hospital on the Mumbai port trust land.

Furthermore, Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu said that Mumbai has played a vital role in escalating India?s ranking in the Ease of Doing Business. He said that the need of the hour is to focus on the findings of Mumbai 2.0 for rejuvenating the city.