Five foreign universities have evinced interest to set up a campus in the satellite city of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra's Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday.

These include three from the US, which is among the top 50 in the world, and one each from Australia and the UK, the chief minister said while speaking at a USIBC event here.

The state is yet to sign a formal memorandum of understanding with the universities as they can enter into such an agreement only after getting a nod from the University Grants Commission, he added.

The state is following up with UGC on the matter, and the universities will come up on an education city coming up in an urban settlement coming up across the harbour touted as the "Third Mumbai", he said.

Fadnavis said Maharashtra is carving out dedicated zones with shared infrastructure in the new city dedicated to certain activities, like education, innovation, data centres, medical centres, sports etc.

The new city will be three times bigger than Mumbai and will be well connected through the 21-km sea link, and will also boast of an airport, he said.

The Navi Mumbai airport will be operational by May this year, he added.

The World Gold Council has approached the state to have a hub in the new city, Fadnavis said.

In its quest to ensure broad-based development, it is turning Sambhaji Nagar into a hub for electric vehicles and turning Gadchiroli into a steel hub with the highest capacity, he noted.

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