Jarange Patil's Fast Hits Mumbai's Nerve Centre

Quota stir slows trading floors and boardrooms, echoing a decades-old battle for Maratha reservation

- PRACHI PISAL

South Mumbai, the city's prime business district and home to the headquarters of top Indian firms, government agencies, and financial institutions, is facing disruptions due to Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil's agitation.

Major firms and regulators, including Reliance Industries, the Reserve Bank of India, BSE, Tata group, and State Bank of India, are based in South Mumbai. Many companies have asked employees to work from home.

Vijay Kalantri, president of the All India Association of Industries and chairperson of the M Visvesvaraya Industrial Research and Development Centre in Mumbai, said at least 35-40 per cent of commercial activity in the area has been affected because of heavy traffic and poor employee attendance, even at banks.

Several multinational firms, such as McKinsey & Company, Blackstone group, HSBC India, DP World, Warburg Pincus, and Wells Fargo, also have offices in South Mumbai, particularly in Nariman Point and Fort, the areas most impacted by the agitation.