Mumbai

Overview

Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra and India’s financial capital: a megacity of 12.44 million people (2011 Census) governed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, whose ₹74,427-crore FY 2025–26 budget makes it India’s richest civic body (The Times of India; Business Today). It hosts Asia’s oldest stock exchange, the BSE (est. 1875), the head offices of the RBI and SEBI, the Bollywood film industry, and Mumbai-based Graphiti Multimedia, the studio behind “Krish, Trish and Baltiboy” (CNBC TV18; AnimationXpress).

The official name was Bombay until 1995. The city’s institutions concentrate unusual authority in one place: a civic body richer than several state governments, a 150-year-old stock exchange that was Asia’s first, UNESCO-listed colonial architecture, and the studios behind much of India’s screen entertainment. This profile documents the city through verified institutional facts — not as a travel destination.

The capital and the 1995 renaming

The city’s official name was changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1995, after the Shiv Sena–BJP alliance came to power in Maharashtra and, in its first cabinet meeting under chief minister Manohar Joshi, decided to rename the state’s capital; the central government gave its nod on October 6, 1995 (Hindustan Times). The name derives from Mumba Devi, the city’s patron goddess, and Maharashtrians had long used “Mumbai” in everyday speech even when English usage said Bombay. The earlier name traces to the Portuguese “Bom Bahia” (“good bay”); in 1661 the Portuguese handed the islands to the British as part of Catherine of Braganza’s dowry, after which the British reclaimed land around them to build a port city and the name Bombay emerged. After Independence the city became part of Bombay state; when Maharashtra was formed in 1960, Bombay became the state capital. A 1996 petition challenging the renaming was dismissed by the High Court.

Governing India’s richest civic body

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation — the municipal body that governs Greater Mumbai — runs a ₹74,427-crore budget for FY 2025–26, making it the richest municipal body in India (Business Today). Nearly 60 percent, over ₹43,000 crore, is earmarked for capital projects; the budget exceeds the planned outlays of several Indian states, including Goa, Sikkim and Tripura — which is why control of the BMC is one of Maharashtra’s biggest political prizes (Business Today). Revenue mixes property taxes, fees, development charges and state transfers. After the 2017 house’s term ended in March 2022, an administrator — first Iqbal Singh Chahal, then Bhushan Gagrani — ran the country’s largest and richest civic body for three years, eleven months and five days, the longest such rule in its history (PTI via The Week). Elections on January 15, 2026 produced a new 227-member house, and BJP corporator Ritu Tawde was elected the city’s 78th mayor on February 11, 2026.

Aspect	Verified fact
Governing body	Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, established 1888 (PTI)
Budget, FY 2025–26	₹74,427 crore — India’s richest municipal body (Business Today)
Capital share	~60% (over ₹43,000 crore) for capital projects (Business Today)
House	227 members; Ritu Tawde (BJP) elected 78th mayor, February 11, 2026 (PTI)
Administrator rule	March 2022–February 2026, the longest in BMC history (PTI)

The financial capital

Mumbai is routinely described as the financial capital of India: the country’s two largest stock markets operate here, and the head offices of the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India are in the city, along with the headquarters of almost all major banks (Business Standard). The anchor is the Bombay Stock Exchange, established on July 9, 1875, when a group of Bombay brokers resolved to form the Native Share & Stock Brokers Association — the first stock exchange ever set up in Asia (CNBC TV18). Trading began under a banyan tree near the Town Hall in south Bombay, moved to a permanent home on Dalal Street in 1874, and shifted to the 28-storey Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers in 1980. The BSE became the first exchange recognised by the Indian government under the Securities Contracts Regulation Act in August 1957, and launched the country’s first equity index, the S&P BSE SENSEX, in 1986 (CNBC TV18).

Landmarks of a port city

Two structures anchor Mumbai’s identity. The Gateway of India, on the Arabian Sea at Colaba, was built to commemorate the 1911 visit of King George V and Queen Mary; work started in March 1913 and the basalt arch, designed by architect George Wittet in Indo-Islamic and Gujarati style, was inaugurated on December 4, 1924 by the Viceroy, Rufus D. Isaacs (IANS). At independence the ceremonial role inverted: on February 28, 1948, the last contingent of British troops, the Somerset Light Infantry, marched through it with a 21-gun salute, marking the end of British rule. The city monument is the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, which UNESCO inscribed on the World Heritage List for its fusion of Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture with Indian traditional building — and as a symbol of “Mumbai as a major mercantile port city on the Indian subcontinent within the British Commonwealth” (UNESCO). The Elephanta Islands, another UNESCO site, lie about 10 km offshore, reached from the Gateway’s jetties (IANS).

A production capital: Bollywood and Graphiti Multimedia

NASA’s Earth Observatory calls Mumbai a major economic, transportation and cultural center, and notes that India’s “Bollywood” film entertainment industry is based here (NASA). The city is also the base of the animation studio behind the Indian children’s folk-tale series Krish, Trish and Baltiboy: AnimationXpress describes Graphiti Multimedia as “Mumbai based,” and reports that its animated feature Krish, Trish and Baltiboy 2 — built on Indian folk stories, folk art and folk music, and aired on Cartoon Network — was nominated in the children’s animation category at the 21st Cairo International Film Festival for Children, held March 23–30, 2012 (AnimationXpress). Directors Munjal Shroff and Tilak Shetty told the trade outlet the series was an attempt to “resurrect and nurture the dying folk art forms” for children alienated from India’s visual culture. In 2012, the studio was developing further features on folk forms including Maharashtra’s Chitrakathi paintings.

Mumbai’s population	Figure	Source
Municipal corporation (BMC limits)	12.44 million (2011 Census)	The Times of India
Urban agglomeration	18.4 million (2011)	The Economic Times
UA incl. satellite towns	20.7 million (2011)	The Economic Times
Greater metro region	over 21 million (2007)	NASA Earth Observatory

Frequently asked questions

Why was Bombay renamed Mumbai? In 1995, the newly elected Shiv Sena–BJP government in Maharashtra decided in its first cabinet meeting, under chief minister Manohar Joshi, to rename the state capital Mumbai; the central government gave its nod on October 6, 1995. The name comes from Mumba Devi, the city’s patron goddess.

Is Mumbai still India’s most populous city? It depends on the boundary. The 2011 Census recorded 12.44 million within the municipal corporation, and the Mumbai urban agglomeration stood at 18.4 million — though a Times analysis showed Delhi’s extended sprawl had already overtaken it. Metro estimates exceed 21 million, but definitions differ.

What makes the BMC India’s richest municipal body? Its FY 2025–26 budget of ₹74,427 crore — the largest municipal budget in the country, with nearly 60% for capital projects — is larger than the planned outlays of several Indian states, including Goa, Sikkim and Tripura. Revenue comes from property taxes, fees, development charges, state transfers and investment income.

What is the Mumbai connection of “Krish, Trish and Baltiboy”? The animated series comes from Graphiti Multimedia, which AnimationXpress describes as Mumbai-based. Its feature Krish, Trish and Baltiboy 2, built on Indian folk stories, folk art and folk music, was nominated in the children’s animation category at the 21st Cairo International Film Festival for Children in 2012.

What this profile does not claim

• It is not a travel guide: no hotel, food, transport or itinerary recommendations were researched here.
• It does not state the CSMT inscription’s session year; the UNESCO decision page read in full does not give it.
• It dates the central government’s nod for the 1995 rename to October 6 per Hindustan Times; some tertiary references date the official change to November 1995, noted here as an unverified variant rather than adopted.
• It asserts no single current population figure: the cited numbers are 2011-based, the 2021 Census was postponed, and metro estimates vary by boundary and method.
• It does not verify the NSE’s founding year or details; it states only that the country’s two largest stock markets are in Mumbai.
• The “financial capital of India” label is a characterization, not a legal title; the hard claims are the institutional facts behind it.