"Mumbai has always prided itself on having better infra-structure and a more cosmopolitan work environment than other cities", says Tinu Puri, chairman of Mckinsey India. "But that differential is narrowing. Other cities are catching up. Today multi-nationals would rather send their executives to Delhi, Banglore or Chennai where they can afford housing, have a decent commute and get their kids into a good school."

If Asiaweek’s quality of life index is anything to go by, even Kathmandu & Karachi are more desirable places. Mumbai has the duboius distinction of being rated 40^th out of 40 cities surveyed in Asia.

Criteria for the rankings ranged from dust/suspended particles in air to the number of hospital beds/1000 people. "So, the first city in India qualifies as the worst city in Asia," shrugs Gerson Da Cunha, a member of Bombay First.

Earlier this year, a survey revealed that 36 of 42 Mumbai-based firms have chosen to locate their new offices, including corporate headquarters, outside the city and indeed, the state.

The executives surveyed blamed the exorbitant real-estate prices, high tax levels, and indifferent state government and significantly, better incentives from other states.

Mumbai’s latest bloomer is that after 175 acres of land in Navi Mumbai had been handpicked to house a prestigious business school, set up in association with the US-based Kellog & Wharton schools of Management, the state government demanded 10% reservation for Maharashtrians- first for employees, then for faculty and finally for students.

"That process wasted about eight months," says a visibly irate businessman closely involved in the project, who did not wish to be named. "Besides the government was not willing to give any concessions on the sale of land, despite the fact that CIDCO is bankrupt," he says, adding that an institute like this may have given just the impetus Navi Mumbai needs to get out of it’s underling status.

The business school was rapidly scuttled. It’s promoters- a consortium of leading businessmen including Seepak Parikh, Rajat gupta, Anil Ambani, Adi Godrej, Anand aMahindra, K.D. Dadiseth and Y.C. Deveshwar- are actively looking elsewhere. Banglore, Hyderabad and Chennai have been shortlisted.

In stark contrast to their home state, the consortium found itself being seduced by the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, who went into overdrive to snag into the project. "Chandrababu Naidu has gone out of his way for us," says Deepak Parikh, chairman of HDFC. "Karnataka is willing to exempt us from stamp duty on the land deal," he adds. "This is an example of how competitive all states have become," agrees Nasser Munjee, deputy managing director of IDFC. "Maharashtra has been talking about five-star infra-structure, but nothing has been done. Other states are not just talking they are getting into the act."

It is a far cry, indeed, from the days when the British invited businesspersons and artisans from Gujrat to settle in Mumbai and catalyse it into a prime commercial centre, say urban historians.