BMC presents Rs 59,954.75-cr budget: Focus on ongoing infra projects; water, property taxes unchanged
Overall BMC budget size saw a 10.5% rise from last year; coastal road project gets Rs 2,900 crore
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For its ambitious Mumbai Coastal Road Project, the BMC has allocated a fund of Rs 2,900 crore. The revised expenditure for the fiscal year of 2023-24, meanwhile, stands at Rs 3,000 crore. (File)In a year when both general and state elections are due and even the civic elections may be conducted after a gap of two years since the elected general body was dissolved in March 2022, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) — India’s richest municipal body — trained its focus on taking forward and completing existing infrastructure projects across the city and also keep people happy by not raising water and property taxes. The municipal corporation announced a 16.6 per cent jump in capital expenditure over the previous year, amounting to Rs 31,774 crore or 53 per cent of the total annual budget of Rs 59,954.75 crore.
Presenting his fourth budget and second in the absence of an elected body, BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal announced an annual budget of Rs 59,954.75 crore for the financial year 2024-25, an increase of 13.9 per cent over the budget estimate of Rs 52,619.07 crore for 2023-24.
Chahal did not announce any new large infrastructure project but kept the focus on funding and completing ongoing big-ticket projects across the city. He also kept the water and property taxes constant. The last hike in these taxes was announced in February 2020.
The BMC has proposed to draw Rs 11,627 crore from its fixed deposits to fund ongoing infrastructure projects. (Graphic by Angshuman Maity)
Even as the corporation projected an increase in revenue income by 7.4 per cent to Rs 35,749 crore for 2024-24, Chahal proposed to withdraw Rs 11,773 crore from its reserves to fund the ongoing infrastructure projects. The withdrawal proposed for 2024-25 is nearly double of the withdrawal amount of Rs 5,970 crore from the reserves in the financial year 2023-24.
While BMC’s reserves stood at Rs 88,216 crore in December 2022, the budget documents show that it declined by 3.8 per cent and came down to Rs 84,824 crore as on December 31, 2023.
In another move aimed at pleasing the voters of the ruling party, the BMC announced a social-welfare project worth Rs 111 crore named after Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe, who was also the political guru of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The BMC has also earmarked a Rs 500-crore budget to implement Shinde’s ‘zero prescription’ policy in all the civic-run general and peripheral hospitals in Mumbai.
BMC budget estimates over the years. (Graphic by Angshuman Maity)
In a bid to address the rising air pollution levels in Mumbai over the last few years, the BMC commissioner announced framing a ‘Green Budget’ (climate budget) that will look at systematically reducing emissions and enhancing climate resilience. Within this, BMC will focus on climate initiatives such as development of new gardens, giving a push to renewable energy projects and setting up of waste to energy plants among others.
While the corporation trained its focus on addressing pollution woes, the budget for the garden department — which specifically focuses on increasing the city’s open spaces and maintaining the existing green spaces — has been pegged at Rs 178.50 crore, marginally lower than the budget estimate of Rs 180 crore for 2023-24.
“Mumbai is witnessing a mega drive of infrastructure works, our utmost priority is to give these existing projects their much needed push as their completion will result in much needed social and economical boost to the financial capital,” Chahal said.
Major projects undertaken by the BMC. (Graphic by Angshuman Maity)
Within its capex plan, the civic body allocated the highest amount – Rs 4,250 crore or 13.3 per cent of the capital outlay – for the two phases of Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP) – from Marine Drive to Worli and from Versova to Dahisar. A section of the first phase (Marine Drive to Worli) is set to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 19.
Besides, an allocation of Rs 4,090 crore has been made for the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) projects whose ‘bhoomipoojan’ was carried out by Modi last year.
BMC expenditure in various areas. (Graphic by Angshuman Maity)
The BMC had also allocated Rs 3,420 crore to augment the existing water supply infrastructure of Mumbai, out of which Rs 350 crore has been earmarked for the ambitious desalination plant whose tenders were floated in December 2023.
While Rs 3,200 crore was proposed for upgrading the existing roads and infrastructure work, out of the overall budget size, Rs 1,870 crore was earmarked for the Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR), while Rs 1,610 was allocated to the bridge’s department.
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