Maharashtra govt dues to Mumbai up by Rs 2K crore

BMC has claimed Rs 4,156.68 crore in reimbursements from the State Disaster Response Fund over COVID expenses. File Pic/Shadab Khan

While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to raise Rs 22,505 crore by way of internal loans and special funds, dues owed by the state government to the civic body rose by nearly Rs 2,000 crore from December 31, 2022, to 2023. These include educational aid, various taxes, grants in aid and re-reimbursement of COVID-19 expenditures.

According to the civic chief I S Chahal's budget speech for 2024-25, total outstanding dues from the offices of various state government departments on account of grant-in-aid, property tax and others is Rs 8,936.64 crore. This includes R5,946.33 crore on account of grant-in-aid from the education department of the state government.

In the last budget speech of the civic chief, dues pertaining to various taxes and grants-in-aid were Rs 7,223.42 crore as of December 31, 2022. This included Rs 5,419.14 crore grant-in-aid from the state government's education department.

The BMC has claimed R4,156.68 crore in reimbursements from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) over COVID-19 expenditures. Of this, Rs 2,037.42 crore and Rs 2,119.26 crore were sought from Mumbai city and suburban collectors as of December 2022. "We are expecting a positive response from the state government," Chahal said.

Last year, the BMC submitted a claim of Rs 3,900 crore as of June 2022 for COVID reimbursements. In last year's budget speech, the civic chief mentioned that claims of Rs 1,941.94 crore and Rs 1,958.11 crore were made to the Mumbai city and suburban collectors respectively.