Twenty people were killed and 113 wounded, said the chief minister of Maharashtra state, Prithviraj Chavan.
He called the overnight explosions in Mumbai busy during peak hours, "a coordinated attack by terrorists."
An explosion was reported in the Zaveri Bazaar, a second opera in the business district and third in the Dadar district in the city center.
Police sources have reportedly said the explosions were caused by homemade bombs.
The attacks were the deadliest in Mumbai since November 2008 when gunmen fired on October 1, three days coordinated raid in which 166 people died.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the attacks in Mumbai and urged residents to stay calm 'and show a united face. "
U.S. President Barack Obama has condemned the "outrageous" attacks, and offered "to support India's efforts to end impunity the fate of the perpetrators to justice"
High Alert
The last explosion hit the city as workers were on their way home.
The first hit the Zaveri Bazaar in 1854 (1324 GMT), fighting in the famous market of jewelry, police said. A minute later a second explosion hit the bustling business district of the Opera, in the south of the city. In 1905, the third bomb exploded in central Mumbai Dadar.
Given that the explosions occurred within minutes of each other, "we conclude that this was a coordinated attack by terrorists," said Interior Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters.
Mumbai has been on high alert and a team of commandos stood, he said. Delhi, the capital, Calcutta and several other cities have also been alerted.
Forensic teams are sent to Delhi and Hyderabad to explore the sites of explosion.
Authorities have not said who they believe may be behind the explosions and no group has said it carried them out.
Photographer Rutavi Mehta told the BBC that he was shopping nearby and heard the explosion. He grabbed his camera and ran to the scene.
"I took a couple of photos. I think it might be too graphic to be broadcast," he said.
"Body and the members were scattered everywhere. People were crying and screaming. The area was crowded with buyers at the time of the explosion. A couple who offered assistance to the bloody sacrifice, while others watched in shock "he said.
"It was total chaos. There were pools of blood everywhere."
The second and more powerful explosion was near the Opera House. Local media said they had been planted inside the two plans, Prasad Chamber.
In the central area of Dadar, the bomb ripped a taxi that was parked next to a bus stop, witnesses told the BBC. It is unclear whether the explosives were planted inside the vehicle or in a box near the electric meter.
"I heard a loud explosion. And then I saw people with serious injuries in pools of blood," another person said the Times of India.
An unexploded bomb was also found in Dadar.
Choice of locations makes it clear that the explosions were intended to cause maximum casualties, says the BBC Soutik Biswas in Delhi.
But the images of one of the blast sites - Roof ripped from bus stop and a car with broken glass - points to an average crude explosion and, possibly, our correspondent says.
According to reports explosions occurring on the anniversary of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, the shooter only survivor from the 2008 attack. But court records show his birth to be in September.
These attacks, aimed at two luxury hotels, a busy station, a Jewish center and other places frequented by foreigners, have been blamed on Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group.
Pakistan was quick to condemn the recent explosions in a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Peace talks between Pakistan and India have recently taken over when they were abandoned after the 2008 attacks.
Mumbai has been targeted several times in recent years.
Just as the attacks in 2008, coordinated blasts on seven trains from the city, July 11, 2006, caused massive loss of lives. More than 180 people were killed and hundreds wounded in attacks that were blamed on Islamic militants.
The city experienced four bombings in 2003, two explosions on August 25, 2003 that killed 52 people.
In 1993, 257 people were killed and 700 injured in a series of 12 bombings in the city. The attacks were allegedly ordered by the Muslim-dominated underworld in retaliation for Hindu-Muslim riots.
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Adapted from BBCnews
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