Ambani sets out to change face of Indian cities

The new ace up Mukesh Ambani’s sleeves may be about to reveal itself. And it could well be the urban infra game changer India was waiting for, reports The Economic Times on Monday.
Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, an Indian business magnate, chairman and managing director, and the largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Limited, is tying up the last loose ends in its blueprint for setting up a megacity in the vicinity of Mumbai, a Business Standard story has revealed.
By all measures, this new Reliance project is likely to script a new chapter for India, primarily because it could recast the whole urban infra scene.
Mumbai may be a changed place after this megacity comes, said the story. It will likely lead to reverse migration as property prices in the new city will be lower than in Mumbai, it added quoting a top real estate analyst.
It was Dhirubhai Ambani, the legendary founder of the Reliance Group, who had first come up with the idea of setting up a world-class city in Navi Mumbai.
He had thought of a project on these lines as early as the 80s - a project for linking South Mumbai and Navi Mumbai by road.
The plan, had it succeeded, would have decongested Mumbai long back, BS quoted the source as saying.
Reliance had announced last month about its leasing of 4,000 acres of land from Navi Mumbai SEZ (NMSEZ) for an initial payment of Rs 21.80 billion to develop an economic hub on a global scale.
NMSEZ had been given this land in 2006 to develop a world-class SEZ.