Mumbai

Mumbai - Fast Facts 

Airport
Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji international airport is a main gateway to India. It is 25 km (15 miles) from the main business district, and is not served by bus or train; use car or taxi. Travel time from the airport to the city is about one hour, but during peak hours, it can take at least two.

Visas
A standard tourist visa is valid for six months; business visas for one or more years, with multiple entries allowed. Transit visas are issued for a maximum 15 days with single/double entry facilities to transit passengers. Conference visas are issued for conferences/seminars/meetings and conference delegates may combine business with tourism; a 90-day extension is allowed.

Inquiries: Foreigners Regional Registration Office, Annex 2, Office of the Commissioner of Police, B. T. Marg near Dhobi Talao, St. Xavier's College Lane, Mumbai; Tel: 262-0455; 262-1169; fax: 262-0721).

Currency
One rupee=100 paise. Indian coins come in denominations of 5, 10, 25 and 50 paise and 1, 2 and 5 rupees. Notes are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500. If you are handed a grubby note, insist on having it exchanged for a newer one. Have a big supply of small bills as change almost does not exist in India. Click here for currency conversion. Click here for currency conversion.

Credit Cards
American Express, Diners Club, Mercard, MasterCard and Visa are accepted by large establishments, but it is still wise to carry Indian currency. Credit cards can be used to get cash advances in rupees.

Tipping
10% is the norm in high-end restaurants that do not add a service charge to the bill. Small change in modest restaurants is acceptable. Round off taxi fare; add more for exceptionally good service. Tip porters 1 rupee per bag.

Useful Numbers
Fire department: 101
Police: 100
Local directory assistance: 197
International directory assistance: 197
MasterCard hotline for lost or stolen cards: 1-314-542-7111 (call collect to the United States)

Electricity
220 volts, 50Hz

Health Risks
Gastroenteritis, typhoid, cholera or jaundice may be acquired through unhygienic water or food. Conjunctivitis is common as the pollution level is high. As protection from disease-carrying mosquitoes, flies, etc., wear long-sleeved shirts or blouses. The estimated number of AIDS cases is quite high. Drink bottled water.

Time Zone
GMT + 5 hours and 30 minutes

Business hours
Public and private offices: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Some open on Saturday, but all are closed on Sunday.
Shops: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.
Post offices: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon._Fri.; Saturday until noon.
Banks: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sat.
Restaurants: until 11 p.m.; nightclubs and discos close much later

Climate
The cool months (November-March) are the best time to visit as temperatures range from 4.5-15.5 deg. C (40-60 deg. F) in the north to 18-30 deg. C (64-86 deg. F) in the south. The summer months (March-June) can be very dry and hot. During the monsoon months (June-Oct.), rainfall reaches 50-200 cm. (20-80 in.). Click here for 10-day weather forecast in Mumbai.

Clothing
Casual attire is acceptable for business meetings but it is best to dress formally. The appropriate attire for men is a long-sleeved shirt with tie and/or jacket, depending on the weather. Long skirts are required of women, but they may try wearing a sari or salwar kameez (pants).

GDP Growth Rate
8.3%

Inflation
5.4%

Major Exports
Textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures.

Major Trading Partners
U.S., Hong Kong, Britain, Japan, Germany, Belgium, Saudi Arabia

Major Industries
Manufacture of electronics, textiles, chemicals, clothing, plywood; food processing; sugar milling; cement processing; shipbuilding; petroleum refining

Teledensity
45.5 persons per telephone

Government
Federal republic with three branches -- executive, legislative, judicial

Geography
Mumbai lies on India's west coast in the state of Maharashtra facing the Arabian sea. The city occupies an area of 440 sq km. One fourth of the city lies below sea level. The city is covered by two ridges of low hills on Colaba's east and west forming a barrier of sorts from the open sea .The other ridge ends up at Malabar Hill 180ft above sea level, which is also Mumbai's highest point. In between these two ridges directly north of Colaba lies the bustling area of fort. Mumbai is 1400 km west of the Indian capital, New Delhi.
Occupying most of the subcontinent of India in south Asia, India borders China in the northeast, Pakistan in the west, Nepal and Bhutan on the north, and Burma and Bangladesh on the east.

Population
India: 1 billion
Mumbai: 18 million

Ethnic Groups
Indo-Aryan: 72%; Dravidian: 25%; others: 3%

Languages
The national language is Hindi, spoken by 30% of population. English is also widely spoken and largely used in business. Other offical languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Sanskrit, Hindustani (a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India).
Plus there are more than 700 dialects, largely unintelligible to each other

Religion
The major religions are Hinduism (82%); Islam (11%); Christianity (2%); Sikhism (2%); and Buddhism (0.7%)

Mumbai makes us proud and here are reason for people who need them

Mumbai singlehandedly handles about 25% of the domestic and 38% of the international air passenger traffic in the country.

Mumbai's suburban rail systems carry a total of 2.2 billion passengers every year. Incidentally, the world's population is 6 billion.

Mumbai's literacy rate is 85.6% (female: 82.7%, male: 90%) compared with India's overall literacy of 65.4%.

Mumbai's per capita income is Rs 48,954. This is almost three times the national average!

At the end of financial year 2002-03, Mumbai paid Rs 28,000 crore in taxes, 35% of India's collection of Rs 82,000 crore!

The original Walkeshwar Temple was destroyed by the Portuguese, but was rebuilt by Rama Kamath in 1715.

Bombay University was founded in 1857 at the Town Hall, and was shifted to the new complex near Oval Maidan in 1874.

The Elphinstone College was originally built for the Government Central Press at a cost of Rs 7.5 lakh.

The city's first church - the St Thomas Cathedral - was built at Horniman Circle in 1718.

The first post office in Bombay was opened in 1832 at the residence of the junior magistrate of police at Byculla.

The Stearns & Kittredge company was given permission in 1874 to start Bombay's first tram service with a fleet of 900 horses.

The East India Company appointed Sir George Oxenden the first governor of Bombay in 1668.

Until 1864, the city's highest ranking police officer was called Police Chief. Post 1864, the title was changed to Police Commissioner.

The Hanging Gardens at Malabar Hill was built over three reservoirs which can store up to 300 lakh gallons of water.

The first inter-city railway was built between Bombay and Surat, and was completed in 1864.

The Great Indian Peninsular Railway laid the first rail tracks in India between Thane and Bombay.

It took 60 years to merge the seven islands of Bombay into one landmass between 1784 and 1845.

Bombay's highest population growth rate was between 1661 and 1675 when it rose six times from 10,000 to 60,000.

The 2nd governor of Bombay, Gerald Aungier, was behind its development into a major centre of commerce.

The name Bombay was derived from Bom Bahia (The Good Bay), a name given by Portuguese sailor Francis Almeida, in 1508.

When a person travel towards Mumbai,one can see milestone stating Mumbai 35 Kms, but where is Mumbai Zero Kms, it is at Flora Fountain

The railway tracks of the Churchgate Station originally extended beyond Azad Maidan in the direction of Afghan Church, which was later changed to a tar road.

Former English cricket captain Douglas Jardine of Bodyline fame was born in Malabar Hill, Mumbai, in 1900.

India’s first cricket club, Orient, was founded in Bombay in 1848.

Mumbai orginally was a cluster of seven separate islands, and the southernmost island was called Old Woman’s Island.

Nobel Laureate Rudyard Kipling who wrote Kim and The Jungle Book was born in Mumbai.

There are 14 platforms inside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, earlier called Victoria Terminus.

Mumbai’s first ever meteorological observatory was built in Colaba in 1826.

The wooden pole in the centre of the Banganga Tank in Mumbai signifies the centre of the earth. Legend has it that Lord Ram created the tank by piercing the earth with his arrow.

The Lumiere brothers introduced Motion Pictures to India with six soundless short films at Bombay’s Watson’s Hotel in 1896.

There is an original portrait of former US President Abraham Lincoln at the Prince of Wales Museum.

Lord Elphinstone performed the opening ceremony after railway tracks were laid between Bombay and Thane in 1853.

The railway line from Mumbai to Pune through Bhor Ghat was built by a woman named Alice Tredwell in 1863.

The Quit India Movement was launched by Gandhiji in Mumbai in 1942 from Gowalia Tank. It is now called August Kranti Maidan.

Mumbai industrialist Jamshetji Tata was the first Indian to own a car.