Mumbai: The state government has invited five of the world’s top universities to set up campuses in Third Mumbai, a new city that will be developed on the edge of Navi Mumbai. These universities will be located in Edu City, the education hub in Third Mumbai.
On Tuesday, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “We will be creating Edu City in this new Mumbai. We have entered into an understanding with five foreign universities, which are in the top 50 ranks globally. We have invited them to set up campuses here. Of the five, three universities are from the United States of America, and one each from Australia and the United Kingdom,” said Fadnavis, who did not name the universities, while speaking at the USIBC 50th Anniversary Summit in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The state government will enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with these universities after completing due process and seeking permissions and approvals from the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Third Mumbai, still at a nascent stage, will develop around the Navi Mumbai International Airport, which is expected to open in May. Located on the eastern end of the Atal Setu, which links Mumbai to Navi Mumbai, the new city will be called Karnala-Sai-Chirner (KSC) New Town.
This new global city will be sector-specific, designed around thematic innovation centres focused on different sectors and businesses. They will include Edu City, Medi City, Global Capability Centres (GCC) and Data Centres.
“We intend to carve out zones in this new Mumbai. We are trying to capture the GCC revolution and in the next two to three years, we will host at least 2,000 GCCs. There will be data centers as well, for which huge investments are expected. By 2030, we will be powering them with green energy,” added Fadnavis.
To improve connectivity, there will be multimodal transportation and infrastructure proposed in this new city, starting with the Navi Mumbai airport. The Metro-8 corridor, called the Golden Line, will connect Terminal 2 of the Mumbai airport with the new Navi Mumbai airport.
Apart from this, the Coastal Road will extend all the way to Virar. It would then link up with the multimodal corridor between Virar and Alibag.
Fadnavis also spoke about the development of the Vadhavan Port, the greenfield deep-draft port near Dahanu, which is expected to be one of the biggest ports in the world. A third airport will be built near this port, and it would be connected with a dedicated freight corridor and the bullet-train project.
