Reliance Foundation chairperson Nita Ambani announced on June 19, 2026, that Mumbai will get a large new public park — the Coastal Road Gardens — which she described at Reliance Industries’ annual general meeting as “Mumbai’s own Central Park.” The project will cover 130 acres and is planned to host more than 60,000 trees; Ambani said 15,000 of those trees are already on site.
Ambani said a world-class team of landscape architects, ecologists, planners and engineers is preparing the masterplan, and that the Reliance Foundation aims to combine global expertise with a distinctly Mumbai character. She framed the Gardens as a major environmental and recreational investment in the city’s long-term health.
The foundation envisages the Coastal Road Gardens as “a pocket of stillness, peace, and serenity,” offering shaded walking and cycling paths, open maidans, public gyms, children’s play areas and cultural spaces. Ambani added the site will be “a hub of flora and fauna” and include family attractions such as a tree museum alongside sports facilities for cricket, football, tennis, kabaddi, basketball, padel, pickleball and other games.
Ambani compared the ambition for the Gardens to iconic urban parks abroad, saying: “What Central Park is to New York, Hyde Park to London, and the Botanic Gardens to Singapore, we hope the Coastal Road Gardens will be to Mumbai.” She described the project as a tribute to the spirit of the city and “a place for every Mumbaikar to reconnect with nature.”
At the same meeting Ambani highlighted Vantara, the Reliance Foundation’s animal rescue, care and rehabilitation complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Launched in 2024 and inaugurated in 2025 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vantara marks its first anniversary this year; the foundation also laid the foundation stone for Vantara University, intended to train future wildlife conservationists and veterinary scientists.
Vantara occupies 3,500 acres and houses temperature-controlled animal habitats, a diagnostic imaging centre with radiography, ultrasound, CT and MRI, the Shri Dhirubhai Ambani Central Veterinary Laboratory for disease surveillance and related sciences, a sterilisation service, an elephant hospital and quarantine units. Ambani described Vantara as “one of the world’s largest efforts in wildlife conservation, rescue, and rehabilitation,” invoking the principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — the world is one family.
Original Source: https://www.firstpost.com/india/reliance-agm-nita-ambani-coastal-road-gardens-mumbai-vantara-initiative-14024240.html
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Publish Date: 2026-06-19 16:43:00
