Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Gautam Adani plans to convert Mumbai slum into modern city

Indian billionaire says the project will test his group's resilience and execution skills to their limits

Gautam Adani plans to convert Mumbai slum into modern city

INDIAN billionaire Gautam Adani on Thursday (20) said he plans to convert India's largest slum in Mumbai, Dharavi, into a modern city hub, a huge challenge which would require the rehousing of around one million people.

Believed to be the largest slum in Asia, Dharavi is a crowded area that houses thousands of poor families in cramped quarters in the centre of India's financial capital. Many residents have no access to running water or clean toilets.

The state government of Maharashtra last week confirmed Adani's $619 million bid to redevelop the area that covers 625 acres (253 hectares), and has been described by officials as "the world's largest urban renewal scheme."

Adani wrote on the company's website that the redevelopment will provide gas, water, drainage, healthcare and other facilities to them.

GettyImages 89126060 Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani (Photo credit: SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images)


"The design and implementation of the Dharavi project are challenges monumental in both scale and dimensions," Adani said.

"We are also aware that the project will test our resilience, our capability and our execution skills to their limits."

The redevelopment of Dharavi was first mooted in the 1980s as a way to develop valuable land while providing proper housing to those living there.

It is the latest mega-project taken on by ports-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group, which already supplies electricity in Mumbai through listed unit Adani Transmission.

The billionaire's group has been under pressure in recent months after US short seller Hindenburg Research accused it of improper business practices, leading to a more than $150 billion plunge in value of group's main stocks.

Adani denied wrongdoing, and the stocks have since recovered by around $50 bn after he assured investors and repaid debt.

(Reuters)

More For You

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

BANGLADESH, the world's second-biggest garment manufacturer, aims to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump's punishing tariffs kick in next week, said the country's top commerce official.

Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, which Trump used as the reason for imposing painful levies in his "Liberation Day" announcement.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Bond yields ease following Starmer’s support for Reeves

THE COST of UK government borrowing fell on Thursday, partially reversing the rise seen after Chancellor Rachel Reeves became emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions.

The yield on 10-year government bonds dropped to 4.55 per cent, down from 4.61 per cent the previous day. The pound also recovered slightly to $1.3668 (around £1.00), though it did not regain all its earlier losses.

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-trump-getty
Modi shakes hands with Trump before a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. (Photo: Getty Images)
Getty Images

Indian exporters watch closely as Trump says trade deal with India likely

THE US could reach a trade deal with India that would help American companies compete more easily in the Indian market and reduce tariff rates, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. However, he cast doubt on a similar deal with Japan.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he believed India was ready to lower trade barriers, potentially paving the way for an agreement that would avoid the 26 per cent tariff rate he had announced on April 2 and paused until July 9.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

Customers shop for 'Kolhapuri' sandals, an Indian ethnic footwear, at a store in New Delhi, India, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

INDIAN footwear sellers and artisans are tapping into nationalist pride stoked by the Prada 'sandal scandal' in a bid to boost sales of ethnic slippers with history dating back to the 12th century, raising hopes of reviving a struggling craft.

Sales are surging over the past week for the 'Kolhapuri' sandals that have garnered global attention after Prada sparked a controversy by showcasing similar designs in Milan, without initially crediting the footwear's origins.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Economy grew 0.7 per cent in Q1 2025, fastest in a year

THE UK economy expanded at its fastest pace in a year during the first quarter of 2025, driven by a rise in home purchases ahead of a tax deadline and higher manufacturing output before the introduction of new US import tariffs.

Gross domestic product rose by 0.7 per cent in the January-to-March period, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, confirming its earlier estimate. This was the strongest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2024.

Keep ReadingShow less