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Architecture Internships in Mumbai: How to Find Firms That Actually Teach You
How to find a Mumbai architecture internship by the kind of work you want to learn, which MOA architects practise in Mumbai, and how the commute and costs should shape your choice.
Published on 10/16/202610 min read
The best architecture internship in Mumbai is rarely the most famous name on a listicle. It is an office whose work matches what you want to learn, with an architect who will actually mentor you, at an address you can reach every day without losing three hours on the train. This guide shows how to find Mumbai practices by the kind of work they do, which MOA members' profiles say they practise in Mumbai, and what the commute and costs mean for your choice.
It is the Mumbai companion to our national guide. For the Council of Architecture rules, the application timeline, how to think about a stipend and a cold email template, read Architecture Internships in India (2026) first. We will not repeat it here.
About the numbers below: there is no published survey of architecture intern stipends in Mumbai, and we did not find a credible published figure for what an intern pays for a room in the city, so this guide quotes neither. Everything about MOA members comes from their public MOA profiles as they appeared on 16 Oct 2026.
Start with the work Mumbai actually builds
Most lists of Mumbai firms sort them by fame. A more useful way to sort them is by the work, because the work decides what you will draw for sixteen weeks. Four kinds of practice are worth telling apart.
Redevelopment and approvals
Rebuilding existing buildings has its own rulebook in Mumbai. The rules sit in the Development Control and Promotion Regulations for Greater Mumbai, DCPR 2034, sanctioned under Section 31(1) of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966. As a LiveLaw explainer on redevelopment in Mumbai sets out, Regulation 33(7) covers cessed buildings in the island city, 33(9) covers cluster redevelopment of old buildings, and 33(10) covers slum rehabilitation.
An office that does this work will teach you things a design studio elsewhere may not: area statements, FSI working, existing-tenant surveys and approval drawing sets. If you want to understand the area terms before your interview, our explainer on carpet area, built-up area and FSI is a good place to start. The trade-off is that your work may be more spreadsheet and submission than sketch, so ask how much design you will also see.
Interiors and fit-outs
Flats, clinics and shops are what Mumbai studios on MOA have published so far. Every one of the eight COA-verified Mumbai architects in our table below lists interior design among their services on MOA. Fit-out work moves fast. In a studio that teaches, that can mean joinery details, site measurements and vendor drawings. In one that does not, it means renders. That difference is the question to ask.
Heritage precincts
Parts of the city, such as the Fort area, are listed heritage precincts, and building there follows Regulation 52 of DCPR 2034. In a 2023 case about a plot in the Fort precinct, LiveLaw reported that the Bombay High Court examined when the civic body may require a no-objection certificate from the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee. Heritage work starts from what already exists, so ask whether you would do measured drawings and documentation. It is slow, careful work, and very good training if it suits you.
Research and urban work
The Council of Architecture's Minimum Standards of Architectural Education Regulations, 2020 allow practical training in "an organization operating in an allied field of practice or research", if your institution approves it and an architect with at least five years of experience mentors you. Mumbai has research bodies of this kind. The Urban Design Research Institute, for example, is a public charitable trust founded in 1984 in Kala Ghoda that researches land use, housing, heritage and mobility. Whether any such body takes interns, and whether your college will approve it, is something to confirm with both.
Where to find Mumbai practices, without a ranked list
1. Browse Mumbai architects on MOA
On MOA's architects page you can choose Mumbai in the city filter. Each profile shows the cities the member works in, the services they list, whether MOA has verified their Council of Architecture registration, and any projects they have published. That tells you the type of work before you write a single email.
These are the architects whose MOA profiles give Mumbai or Navi Mumbai as their base and show the COA Verified badge. The table only describes what each profile shows. It is not a ranking, and being listed does not mean a studio is taking interns.
| Architect | Studio on profile | Cities on profile | Services listed include |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anisha Gupta Jain | ArchiPod Design Studios | Mumbai | Interior design, turnkey, design consultancy, furniture. Four projects on MOA. |
| Shweta Ajay Ghule | Artline Architects | Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune and others | Interior design, design consultancy, 3D rendering. One project on MOA. |
| Ujwal Bhole | UB Architects | Mumbai | Design consultancy, interior design, construction drawings, plan approvals |
| Sitaram Mistry | Pentaspace Design Studio | Mumbai | Interior design, design consultancy, plan approvals, liaison |
| Hardik Agawala | Talati and partners LLP | Mumbai | 3D rendering, turnkey, interior design, construction drawings |
| Abhishek Vishwakarma | Aakar Studio & Co | Mumbai | Interior design, turnkey, furniture, design consultancy |
| Saad Amir Abdul Khalid | Mobius Architects & Urban Designer | Navi Mumbai | Design consultancy, construction drawings, interior design, furniture |
| Sarah Sayyed | Sarah Sayyed | Navi Mumbai, Mumbai | Interior design, design consultancy, 3D rendering, furniture |
Read the services column the way the diagram suggests. Plan approvals and liaison point towards approvals work. Construction drawings point towards drawing sets. A long list of rendering and turnkey work points towards interiors. Then open the projects. Anisha Gupta Jain's profile, for instance, shows a 1,100 sq ft 3BHK apartment, a furnishing shop and a 700 sq ft clinic, all in Mumbai or Mumbai Suburban. Shweta Ajay Ghule's profile shows a 520 sq ft home in Parel.
Several other verified architects list Mumbai alongside a home base in another city. If you write to one of them, ask where the office you would sit in actually is. MOA also lists interior designers in Mumbai. Whether an interior office counts for your practical training depends on your college's approval and on having an architect as your mentor.
2. Use your college's placement cell
Colleges hear from practices directly. The placement page of Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture, for example, says the institute receives invitations from practices and lists openings, including internships. Ask your own training coordinator what has come in, and which offices past students from your college trained with.
3. Go where Mumbai architects gather
Public lectures and events are a low-pressure way to meet practitioners before you apply. UDRI's about page lists workshops, discussions, lectures and a library. A short, specific conversation after a talk often does more than a cold email.
4. Watch the MOA jobs board
Studios on MOA post roles on the jobs board, and you apply with your profile, so the studio sees your work rather than only a CV. Use it as one channel among the four, not the only one.
Plan the commute before you accept
In Mumbai, distance on a map tells you little. Which line you are on, and at what hour, decides the commute. Before accepting, ask for the office address and where the current sites are, then do a trial run at the time you would really travel.
- The Aqua Line changed some journeys. Metro Line 3 became fully operational on 8 October 2025, running 33.5 km underground from Aarey to Cuffe Parade with 27 stations, and linking areas including Bandra-Kurla Complex, MIDC and South Mumbai's business district, according to JICA, which helped finance it. An office near a Line 3 station may be easier to reach than its distance suggests.
- One app for most tickets. The Mumbai One app, launched on 8 October 2025, issues a single QR ticket across the suburban railway, Metro Lines 1, 2A, 3 and 7, Navi Mumbai Metro, Monorail and the BEST, TMT, NMMT, KDMT and MBMT buses, PTI reported. At launch it could not issue suburban season tickets, so check before you rely on it for a monthly pass.
- Sites can be anywhere in the region. MOA profiles show Mumbai studios working in Thane and the suburbs as well as the city. Ask how often interns go to site, and whether the studio pays for that travel.
Stipend and living costs: do the sum for Mumbai
The national guide explains how to ask about a stipend. In Mumbai, the sum around it matters more than usual, because housing and travel take a large share. List your own monthly costs before an interview: rent and deposit, any brokerage, the commute, food, printing and software. Then ask three things in writing: the stipend, the working days and hours, and whether site travel is reimbursed. If you are moving to Mumbai for the semester, a lower stipend with a short commute can leave you better off than a higher one with a long journey and a costly room. For what pay looks like after graduation, see our post on architecture jobs and salaries in India.
Questions to ask a Mumbai studio before you say yes
- Which projects will I work on, and where are their sites?
- Will I see an approval submission, or only design and presentation work?
- Who will mentor me, and do they have at least five years of experience, as the Council requires?
- What are the working days and hours, and is site travel paid?
- Which of my drawings may I show in my portfolio afterwards, and how should I credit the studio?
Go into the interview with a portfolio that shows how you draw, not only how you render. Our architecture portfolio examples show what strong Indian portfolios put first.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find architecture firms for an internship in Mumbai?
Decide what kind of work you want to learn first: redevelopment and approvals, interiors, heritage or research. Then search by that type. Use the Mumbai filter on MOA's architects page, your college's placement cell, public lectures and the MOA jobs board, and check each studio's published projects before you write.
Do architecture interns get paid in Mumbai?
Often, but there is no Council-mandated minimum and no published Mumbai stipend survey. Ask before you accept, in writing, and compare the offer against your actual monthly costs in the city, including the commute.
Can I do my internship in Navi Mumbai or Thane instead?
Yes. The Council's rules are about the mentor and your college's approval, not the city. Two of the COA-verified architects in our table are based in Navi Mumbai, and an office closer to where you live can make the semester far easier.
Is a big Mumbai firm better than a small studio for an internship?
Not automatically. A large office shows you process and specialists, and a small one usually gives you more site and client exposure. Choose by the work and the mentoring you will get, not the name.
Looking for a Mumbai studio? See architects in Mumbai on MOA, and put your portfolio on MOA, free.
Sources
- Council of Architecture: Minimum Standards of Architectural Education Regulations, 2020 (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
- LiveLaw: A Legal Intro To Redevelopment In Mumbai (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
- LiveLaw: Bombay High Court on BMC building permission in the Fort heritage precinct (2023) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
- Urban Design Research Institute: About us (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
- Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture: Placements and career opportunities (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
- JICA: Mumbai Metro Line 3 fully operational (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
- The Week (PTI): PM launches Mumbai One single app for all public transport tickets (accessed 16 Oct 2026)