Biz-whiz plan for city unveiled

MUMBAI: To make India''s commercial capital world class, it should be run like a well-heeled corporation. That''s the core suggestion made by international consultancy firm McKinsey and Company in its tenyear development blueprint for Mumbai, which was presented to chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday.
McKinsey suggested that corporate management techniques should be used and Mumbai should have a designated CEO vested with authority for the city''s overall development.
"The report argues that the city presently has too many separate departments and needs a central singular authority for proper growth. This authority could be a designated minister or even the CM," a top government source said.
The consultants have emphasised that several city institutions, like the MMRDA and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), also need to be corporatised as a corporate-style decision-making process is needed for effective development.
The plan has been drawn up by McKinsey, working together with Bombay First, an industry initiative aimed at improving living conditions and creating amenities to transform Mumbai into a worldclass city. In addition to the CM, Bombay First has also presented the plan to several city civic bodies, including the BEST and the BMC besides the state chief secretary.
However, both Bombay First as well as McKinsey were tight-lipped about the plan and refused to comment on it until the state government formally accepted it.
The McKinsey development plan, dubbed Mumbai-2013, says the city should be looking towards planning and creating facilities for the future rather than extending the existing facilities.
"Improving the efficiencies of existing facilities is not good enough and the city needs to create new facilities to make Mumbai a wellplanned city by 2013," sources said.
The plan, which looks at all urban development issues facing the metropolis, has taken a holistic approach to the future growth of the city, addressing problems like housing shortages, transport tangles, poor public health, environment and water supply.