Take back ‘disproportionate’ funds allocated to 6 wards: Mumbai BJP chief to BMC panel
Out of BMC’s Rs 80,000-crore budget, Rs 900 crore has been kept by the standing committee, which is responsible for overseeing the civic body’s finances.
4 min readMumbaiUpdated: Apr 20, 2026 10:12 PM IST
Satam’s move comes days after Opposition corporators from the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) criticised the BJP-run administration for distributing disproportionate funds to its elected members. (File Photo)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mumbai president Ameet Satam on Monday wrote to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) standing committee chairperson, stating that the development funds allocated to six municipal corporator wards that fall under his constituency will be returned to the civic administration.
Satam’s move comes days after Opposition corporators from the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) criticised the BJP-run administration for distributing disproportionate funds to its elected members.
Out of BMC’s Rs 80,000-crore budget, Rs 900 crore has been kept by the standing committee, which is responsible for overseeing the civic body’s finances. This fund is distributed among all the 227 corporators for carrying out developmental works in their wards or in the ward of their party members.
Of the total money that distributed, every BJP and Shiv Sena corporator received a minimum funding of Rs 2.5 crore, while corporators from Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and MNS received Rs 25 lakh each. The only opposition leader who received Rs 2 crore was Shiv Sena UBT corporator Kishori Pednekar who is also the leader of Opposition (LoP).
Six BJP corporators whose constituencies fall under Satam’s Vidan Sabha constituency in Andheri (west) received a total funding of Rs 33 crore, which includes Rs 9 crore allocated to ward number 68 that falls under BJP corporator Rohan Rathod. Ward numbers 65, 67, 69, 70 and 71 got Rs 6 crore whose corporators are BJP’s Vitthal Banderi, Deepak Kotekar, Sudha Singh, Aneesh Makwaney and Mamata Yadav, respectively.
“After receiving information, an examination of the distributed funds were carried out by us where it was seen that the funds distributed to municipal wards 65, 67, 68, 69, 70 and 71 were disproportionate in nature, therefore it has been directed to the standing committee to take back the allocated Rs 4 crore additional funds,” Satam’s letter stated.
Of the total fund that has been allocated, Rs 20 crore was given to Ganesh Khankar, BJP corporator and leader of the house, followed by Rs 10 crore to BJP corporator Rajashree Shirwadkar and Rs 10 crore Shiv Sena’s group leader — Amey Ghole. Mayor Ritu Tawde was allocated Rs 2.25 crore, while Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi received an allocation of Rs 10 crore.
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“The fund is being allocated on the basis of demands made by the corporators. These funds will be utilised by corporator members and group leaders largely for development wards across the city,” Prabhakar Shinde, BJP corporator and chairperson of the civic standing committee, told The Indian Express. Shinde took an allocation of Rs 2.5 crore.
Kishori Pednekar, Ashraf Azmi, Vijay Ubale and Yeshwant Killedar who are the leader of opposition, and group leaders of Congress, AIMIM and MNS received Rs 2 crore each. NCP’s Ajit Raorane received a fund of Rs 2.25 crore, while Amrin Abahani from Samajwadi Party (SP) received an allocation of Rs 2 crore. Senior corporator and former Mayor, Vishakha Raut also received an allocation of Rs 25 lakh.
“The balance fund that stays with the standing committee will be made available to corporators as per the demand by them throughout the financial year,” the official added.
After getting elected each of the elected 227 corporators receive a Rs 1.6 crore fund annually for carrying out various civic works in their areas. Meanwhile, the funds allocated on Thursday are over and above the Rs 1.6 crore fund. Civic officials said that there are no specified parameters prescribed from the allocation of these funds.
Pratip Acharya is a seasoned journalist based in Mumbai reporting for The Indian Express. With a career spanning over a decade, his work demonstrates strong Expertise and Authority in critical urban issues, civic affairs, and electoral politics across Eastern and Western India.
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Relocated to Mumbai (2016) and worked with The Free Press Journal and Hindustan Times before joining The Indian Express.
Pratip Acharya's diverse experience across major publications, coupled with his specialized focus on the intricate details of urban governance and a track record of covering major electoral and health crises, establishes him as a trusted and authoritative source for news from India's critical metropolitan centres. ... Read More
