As I mentioned in my previous post, I have just had occassion to visit a couple of the largest cities in India. I have been to Mumbai several times before, but it was my first visit to New Delhi.

There are a number of obvious contrasts, but the main one is with regard to the amount of construction that is happening at the moment in New Delhi. Lots of new buildings are under construction as are new roads and even a metro system. From some angles when walking through the streets of New Delhi, you could almost be in any financial district of any modern city in the world. Lots of new glass and steel structures.

Of course, there is a reason for all this new building work. In 2010, New Delhi is hosting the Commonwealth Games and it looks to me like they will put on a really good show.

In contrast, even though Mumbai is one of the densest populated cities on the planet and a lot of money is raked in by the government in the form of taxes, there was little evidence to me that it was being spent on better infrastructure. Not only do all the roads look unfinished, with piles of rubble lying alongside them all, but frequent power cuts are the order of the day due to the age old problem of distributing power around the city.

Given the choice of whether to visit Mumbai or New Delhi on your next visit to India, it really depends on your point of view. If you want a modern, almost cosmopolitan feeling city, then go to New Delhi. However, if you want a city with lots of character to shows the real urban India, then go for Mumbai.

Better still, why not visit both and see the contrasts for yourself. They are only 90 minutes apart by air.