Navi Mumbai's Excess Baggage

Good Morning. Navi Mumbai Airport is all set for a grand inauguration, and the excitement is in the air. On ground, however, the linear city of Mumbai needs cross-connections on-road to reach the new airport; and there are some railway complications as well.

In other news, India is looking beyond the United States for new partners in South America. Meanwhile, the State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest lender, is all set to widen its asset size and break into the global top 10-20 ranks.  

THE TAKE

Ease of Doing Business Within Govt More Important Than With It

By Govindraj Ethiraj

On October 8, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a new airport outside Mumbai, the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA).

But operations at the new airport will start only in December, we are being told. 

So why the inauguration now?

Speaking as a selfish western Mumbai resident, the honourable Prime Minister might as well inaugurate the airport a year or two later. 

Because that’s when a crucial 4.5 km, 4-lane elevated corridor east-west connector is supposed to be ready.

Slow Lane To The Airport 

This road will link the western parts of Mumbai including the city’s pride, the Coastal Road, with the ambitious Atal Setu sea bridge which presently connects Mumbai’s desolate eastern corridor with the mainland; and Ulwe, the area where the new airport is located.

The 21.8 km bridge is quite an achievement, not just for its engineering smarts but also the relatively shorter time taken to build, which is six years.

But reaching the bridge for anyone on the western part of Mumbai is a mighty challenge. It  involves navigating choked, narrow streets and potholed roads which were never designed to act as cross-city arterial roads.

Hence, my plea is to postpone the inauguration by two years.

Maybe one is being unduly pessimistic.

So let’s see what has been promised.

The Promised Bridge 

On August 4 or two months ago, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the connector would be ready in a year’s time which was not a bad timeline in itself.

But the latest target we hear is January 2027. 

But is that also feasible ?

Because in June 2024, Mr Phadnavis’ junior colleague and state deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said the Sewri-Worli connector will be opened for traffic by the end of December 2025.

We are of course in October 2025. 

As always in infrastructure, it is useful to see what the journey so far has been.

First, construction for this connector actually started in 2021 - all you see now is abandoned pillars and half blocked roads though it was planned in 2013 precisely for this purpose, to connect into the transharbour link or Atal Setu.

But the Atal Setu itself was delayed even as the connector project was revived in 2016.

Anyway, let’s now assume all ministers concerned have summoned all the powers at their command to push through this project.

But what about the Railways over whose lines the bridge will pass?

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

The Hindustan Times reported last week the Indian Railways has already raised a red flag, warning it won’t allow the project to proceed until its demand for ‘way leave charges’ is approved.

By the way, there is no bridge in Mumbai the Railways will not block, as history has shown. 

Bridges over railway lines in Mumbai with 2-3 year construction timelines; in themselves unpardonable in this day and age, end up taking anywhere between 6-7 years.

The argument here apparently is that Maha Rail (Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation), which is executing the project, will need to use railway land to construct the new state-of-the-art, double-deck flyover. 

For this, the railways are due ‘way leave charges’ which is effectively rent, for the project’s estimated two-year duration, the HT reported.

While the Central Railway (CR) is asking for Rs 10 crore, the Western Railway (WR) has asked Maha Rail to cough up Rs 59.14 crore, a sum yet to be approved by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which has contracted the project to Maha Rail, a joint venture between the state government and the Indian Railways.

The further mechanics of this only get more painful and depressing as you read further. But the Railways is run by the same party that runs the state government of Maharashtra and we often hear such a combination is a winner when it comes to quick project execution.

The most unfortunate part of this is of course that officials at Adani Airports, despite gushing newspaper reports that carefully leave out the lack of connectivity, must be tearing their hair apart at the delays in this bridge.

Because it will be tough to get the airport truly operational unless most of the flights take off or arrive between 2 am and 8 am, give or take, the band during which west-based residents can hope to reach in good time and hopefully health.

Incidentally, the Navi Mumbai airport too is delayed given it was proposed around 1997, got approvals in 2007 but has faced several delays and hurdles along the way, including land acquisition.

But anyway here we are here in 2025, with a spanking new, tech-savvy airport and very few roads connecting to it, particularly the highly-dense Western Mumbai.

Metros: Half Way Through 

On the other hand, Mumbai’s main airport terminals in Santacruz and Andheri have been linked by a world-class new metro line, the full operations of which will also start in a week or two.

Presently, it is running a little more than half way into south Mumbai.

So the existing airport, also run by the Adanis, has even better connectivity than before while a newer one is struggling for it.

Funnily, the metro line has been built by the same government struggling to get the Railways and the bridge or connector builders into a room and sort things.

Mumbai’s metro has also been delayed by several years but was clearly a more complex engineering task to execute, given that several critical parts run underground across Mumbai’s north-south axis.

There are of course several lessons here.

First, infrastructure timelines in India never stand, almost all the time. By extension, intermodal planning may be good on paper but fails on ground.

Ease of doing business is not just for the private sector, it is equally applicable to dealings within government, whether in this case involving the Railways or elsewhere.

Internal turf wars can bring the most noble intentionals to a grinding halt.

Conversely, if we can’t achieve ease of doing business inside the Government, then doing so outside is a much tougher call. 

And finally, for reasons clear and unclear, maybe building underground in India is more efficient than on ground. 

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CORE NUMBER

Rs 74,573 crore

This is how much marketcap seven of India’s top-10 most valued companies gained last week. HDFC Bank clocked in the biggest gain in the week, which saw a positive trend in equities. Benchmark indices BSE Sensex and Nifty both went up by 0.97%.

Here is how much companies gained

India’s most valued company, Reliance Industries, however, faced an erosion to the tune of Rs 19,351 crore during the week. Bharti Airtel and Infosys also ended in the red, in a week that saw an overall market rally.

FROM THE PERIPHERY

SBI Eyes Growth!

SBI wants to raise its asset share from 20% of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) to 25%, said SBI Chairman CS Setty in an interview published on National Payments Corporation of India’s YouTube channel. 

By the Numbers: SBI currently holds 23% of deposits and 20% of loans, he added. As of FY25, SBI’s balance sheet crossed Rs 66 trillion.

Pivot: Setty plans to deepen investment in sectors like semiconductors, green hydrogen and battery storage via a ‘Centre of Excellence’. He also intends to expand SBI’s overseas operations from 10% of assets toward 12-13%.

India Woos South America

India is expanding its trade partners in South America. The country’s delegation is meeting with Chile and Peru in October and November respectively, as per officials.

By the Numbers: The government will hold five-day talks in Chile and three-day deliberations in Peru; and both these agreements are being negotiated separately. These would be the second round of trade talks with Chile, and eighth round with Peru.

Fast Facts: Chile and India currently have modest bilateral trade, even though Chile is the fifth-largest trading partner in Latin America. Imports from Chile constitute minerals, while major exports include auto and pharma; in addition to yarn, apparel, leather goods etc. India’s key exports to Peru include motorcycles and three-wheelers.

Bridging the Qatar Gap

Joint ventures in energy infrastructure, and tech collaborations can help India shrink its $10.78 billion trade deficit with Qatar, according to think tank GTRI. 

Origin: In 2024-25, India’s imports from Qatar hit $12.46 billion while exports stood at $1.68 billion, making the relationship tilt heavily toward energy imports. Nearly 90% of imports comprised petroleum and gas products. 

Next Steps: GTRI suggests India diversify by partnering in chemicals, fertilisers, metals, machinery, and value-added food items. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will lead a trade delegation to Doha on October 6 to explore investment and trade expansion.

Vedanta To Ramp Up Aluminium Capacity

Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta plans to ramp up its aluminium producing capacity to 3.1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by FY28 from its current 2.4 mtpa, sources told PTI. To aid this expansion, it plans to invest as much as Rs 13,226 crore over the next few years.

Backstory: The company has set a target to achieve $8-10 billion in earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA). It expects aluminium business to remain the single biggest contributor of these plans. Vedanta already has a 50% share in the domestic market for aluminium.

Impact: The demand for aluminium in India is expected to be substantially higher due to projected growth in gross domestic product (GDP). The metal is also a key for energy transition, which is amongst India’s goals.

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