The BMC reintroduced the plan of building the Mumbai Eye, which will be modeled after the London Eye, at a suitable place using a public-private partnership model in its 2025–2026 budget on Tuesday.
Municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said that “they have been talking about the Mumbai Eye project, which will be on the lines of the London Eye, for a long time, but have not been able to zero in on a location that offers an unrestricted panoramic view of the city.”
“We are trying to explore the possibility of constructing the Mumbai Eye appropriately. It requires three to four acres of land,” Gagrani said.
A report mentioned, “This Mumbai Eye would be built under a public-private partnership (PPP) model at a yet-to-be-determined location. Modeled after the London Eye, a 135-meter ferris wheel located on the banks of the River Thames, the Mumbai Eye would feature air-conditioned, sealed passenger capsules, each capable of holding 25 people. The wheel would rotate to provide an elevated view of the city.”
This is not the first time that Mumbai has considered to build their own huge ferris wheel in their city, infact this is the third time. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) originally proposed this idea in 2011 but it was not successful then. In 2023, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) again proposed that the project can take place on the Bandra Reclamation promenade. But the project received strong criticism and so much opposition from Bandra Reclamation residents because they were not happy with the idea of having such a gigantic wheel in their neighborhood.
The MMRDA was planning to build the 650-foot-tall Mumbai Eye as a tourist attraction at the Bandra Reclamation promenade in 2023, but they abandoned the project. “Later, the port trust had also proposed the project as part of the development of the Eastern Waterfront,” Gagrani said.
And now that BMC is in charge, this is finally the third time for this idea. If this proposal somehow goes forward, Mumbai will become one of the many cities that were inspired by the London Eye worldwide.
The Ferris Wheel project which is a 135-meter cantilevered observation wheel situated on the banks of the Thames River was previously undertaken by the state tourist department in collaboration with the same company that constructed the London Eye project.
Now that there have been so many failed attempts over the past 15 years to construct the building similar to the famous London Eye in Mumbai, the idea can also become an iconic tourist attraction in mumbai city.