Through a case study on Gurgaon in the state of Haryana, this article explores how local political factors, the rural–urban divide and conflicts between multiple tiers of government influenced the governance process of a globalising urban region in India. In two decades, Gurgaon was transformed from a small rural town to a global hub for the outsourcing industry. This real estate sector-driven rapid urban makeover, through conversion of peri-urban agricultural land to create production and consumption spaces for the new economy, is leading to a fragmented landscape that contains glaring inequalities. The everyday tensions and contradictions of this transitional journey, which came sharply into focus with the formation of a new municipal corporation, form the immediate backdrop of the study.