The Mumbai model will lead Andhra Pradesh’s efforts to develop the Vizag economic region, officials say. | Photo credit: File Photo
After a high-level delegation studied models of city-building and metropolitan governance in Mumbai, the Andhra Pradesh government drew up a plan for self-financing, investment-led urban growth.
A team led by S. Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) undertook a two-day visit to the Mumbai metropolitan region on January 12 and 13.
The delegation studied advanced practices in regional governance, land-based financing, transit-oriented development, slum redevelopment and mega-city development with a focus on applying these findings in the Vizag Economic Region (VER).
The visit included senior officials from VMRDA, Directorate of Regional Planning and Department of State Project Management.
The officials interacted in detail with senior government officials and agencies in Maharashtra such as City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA).
The team studied how Mumbai finances infrastructure through land monetization, floor area index (FSI) premiums, development rights and transit-oriented development (TOD) revenues, rather than budget grants.
Special attention was paid to the development of the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) as a global financial district and CIDCO’s Navi Mumbai and NAINA models, which were considered benchmarks for Bhogapuram Aerocity and Vizag 2.0.
In his statement on Tuesday, Mr. Suresh Kumar said that Mumbai offers a clear blueprint for Andhra Pradesh to build globally competitive and self-sufficient cities.
“The way Maharashtra has empowered MMRDA and CIDCO, monetized government land, used FSI and TOD to finance metro and housing and created global neighborhoods like BKC will directly guide Andhra Pradesh’s efforts to develop VER, Bay City, TOD corridors and new growth centers across the state, enabling Andhra Pradesh for its next phase of urban and economic transformation.
VMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner N. Tej Bharath said the VER will be designed on similar principles to drive long-term economic growth.
“VER is now designed on similar principles – planned growth centres, TOD-linked densification, brownfield remediation and land-based financing – to make Visakhapatnam a self-sustaining metropolitan economy rather than a grant-dependent city,” he said.
Published – 15 Jan 2026 0:14 IST
