‘IIT Bombay’ to ‘IIT Mumbai’: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis to Request PM Modi to Change the Name of the Premier Institution

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently announced that he will be sending a letter to the the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to change the name of ‘IIT Bombay’ to ‘IIT Mumbai’. While speaking to the reporters in Nagpur on Wednesday, Fadnavis said, “First of all, everyone knows that BJP leader Ram Naik had made the biggest contribution in changing (the name of) Bombay to Mumbai. We always say Mumbai, and not Bombay. We have been consistently trying to ensure that 'Bombay' be replaced with Mumbai.”

“I will write a letter to the Prime Minister and the HRD (Education) Minister to change the name of IIT Bombay to IIT Mumbai,” he further added.

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The announcement comes after Union Minister Jitendra Singh’s remarks recently where he said, “As far as IIT Bombay is concerned, thank God it still is this name. You have not changed it to Mumbai. So that’s another compliment to you. And also true for Madras. It remains IIT Madras”. The comment had also invited sharp criticism from the MNS chief Raj Thackeray.

Why did Bombay become Mumbai?

The demand for changing the name of the institution draws from a broader conversation which saw the city of Bombay being renamed as Mumbai. Back in 1995, the name of the city was officially changed to Mumbai in accordance with Marathi, the language of the state. It marked the shedding of the colonial pronunciation, ‘Bombay’, and celebrating its Marathi identity along with paying homage to the deity Mumba Devi, whose temple still exists in the city and from whom the city originally derived its name.