Urbanization and its allied processes have made a profound impact on the environment of the metropolitan cities of India. In order to mitigate the adverse effects of urbanization on environment in cities and to strengthen their governance, applying the local approach became essential. An important initiative of the Government of India to strengthen municipal governance is the enactment of the Constitutional (74th Amendment) Act (CAA) in 1992. In this context, the study overviews the status of Thane and Navi Mumbai cities with reference to selected areas pertaining to sustainable development, namely; solid waste generation, green spaces, water bodies and water supply. The study makes a comparison of the present expenditures on environmental infrastructure by Thane Municipal Corporation and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation for sustainable growth of these cities. The study was done using secondary data including census reports 2001 and 2011 (provisional data), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) reports, environmental status reports and budgets of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and Navi Mumbai Muicipal Corporation (NMMC). Though absolute pro-environment expenditures undertaken by TMC are greater than NMMC, the ‘green’ expenditure per capita is higher for NMMC than TMC.