Bhopal has a strong economic base with many large and medium industries. Bhopal, along with Indore, is one of the central financial and economic pillars of Madhya Pradesh. Bhopal’s GDP (nominal) was estimated at INR 44,175 crores (2020–21) by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Madhya Pradesh. A Y-class city,[15] Bhopal houses various educational and research institutions and installations of national importance, including ISRO’s Master Control Facility,[16] BHEL and AMPRI. Bhopal is home to a large number of institutes of National Importance in India, namely, IISER, MANIT, SPA, AIIMS, NLIU, IIFM, NIFT, NIDMP and IIIT (currently functioning from a temporary campus inside MANIT).
Bhopal city also has Regional Science Centre, Bhopal, one of the constituent units of the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM).
The city attracted international attention in December 1984 after the Bhopal disaster, when a Union Carbide pesticide manufacturing plant (now owned by Dow Chemical Company) leaked a mixture of deadly gases composed mainly of methyl isocyanate, leading to the worst industrial disaster in history.[17] The Bhopal disaster continues to be a part of the socio-political debate and a logistical challenge for the people of Bhopal.[18]
Bhopal was selected as one of the first twenty Indian cities (the first phase) to be developed as a smart city the Smart Cities Mission.[19] Bhopal was also rated as the cleanest state capital city in India for three consecutive years, 2017, 2018, and 2019.[20] Bhopal has also been awarded a 5-star Garbage Free City (GFC) rating, making it the cleanest State capital in the country in 2023.[21]