Mercantile Bombay: A Journey of Trade, Finance and Enterprise

This book explores how Mumbai was a global financial center from the 19th to the first half of the 20th century, highlighting its trade, finance, commercial institutions, and trading communities. It argues that Mumbai has the essential elements to become an international financial center and looks at the city as a trading city, global financial center, and city of enterprise.

Format: Hardback
Length: 134 pages
Publication date: 18 November 2021
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This captivating volume reclaims Mumbai's illustrious legacy as a global financial hub from the 19th to the early 20th century. It vividly depicts how Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, once stood as a central node in intricate global networks encompassing trade, finance, commercial institutions, and trading communities. By highlighting this city's enduring presence of these virtuous elements, the book underscores its suitability as a location for a financial special economic zone (SEZ), an idea that was temporarily shelved.

The book delves into the city's remarkable prosperity during its heyday as a thriving trading, financial, commercial, and manufacturing center within a globalized colonial world. While Mumbai's significance as a key financial hub waned after India's Independence and the Second World War, the city experienced a resurgence of importance following the 1991 forex crisis. Institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the State Bank of India headquarters, along with their respective capacities, experiences, communities, and talent, played a pivotal role in revitalizing Mumbai's position. Moreover, the city managed a successful transition towards a more open economy.

While Mumbai may not yet rival international financial centers like London, New York, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, this volume endeavors to explore why it possesses all the necessary elements to become one. It presents the city as a trading hub, a global financial center, and a city of enterprise. An insightful examination of India's financial capital, this volume is a must-read for scholars and researchers in economics, business studies, and commerce. It holds immense interest for policy makers, city-headquartered business houses, financial institutions, and the people of Mumbai alike.

Weight: 430g
Dimension: 216 x 138 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367774189