Though the size of the budget has varied, the income of the BMC has remained between Rs 23,000 crore and Rs 25,000 crore for the past five years
The BMC has already given Rs 3,008 crore in the past two years to the BEST, but it might offer another financial grant to it. Pic/Atul Kamble
Projects galore, but does the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have the money to spend on them? All eyes are set on how the BMC plans to fund its ambitious projects like sponge city (flood-free), a visual pollution-free Mumbai, desalination of seawater, revamp of BEST, etc. that could be mentioned in the budget today. Though the size of the budget has varied, the income of the BMC has remained between Rs 23,000 crore and Rs 25,000 crore for the past five years.
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The BMC’s sources of income shrank this year due to the pandemic, but 63 per cent of the income came from the compensation of GST, which might stop next year.
What was funded
The corporation spent Rs 1,412 crore in the past nine months on roads despite revenue crunches. It has always set aside Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000 crore for pothole-free roads every year. Though the civic body wrapped up pedestrian-friendly footpaths this year, the ruling party may push for a visual pollution-free aesthetic city with beautiful road sites and footpaths in the coming year.
Energy plants in Deonar dumping ground, a debris processing unit and the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road are long-pending projects which might find allocation in the budget again. The BMC has already given Rs 3,008 crore in the past two years to the BEST, but it might offer another financial grant to the debt-ridden transport wing.
There is also a corporation election in January-February 2022, so it is expected that the budget will splurge on various ambitious, show-shining projects.
No new source of income
It will be interesting to see how the corporation finds ways to increase its income. While the pandemic hit its income sources hard, the financial situation of the BMC has been affected for the past 5 years.
The BMC’s sources of income like property tax, development charges, etc, have been shrinking due to infrastructure slowdown and water sewer charges and other small receipts cannot become an option for huge earning from octroi.
It hasn’t succeeded in finding a new source of income though previous municipal commissioners suggested ways like levying service charges on slums, one per cent stamp duty, recovery of property tax (more than Rs 19,000 crore), an investment like government bonds/debentures, revision of municipal, etc. None were implemented by the corporation.
“We are repeatedly asking to look for reliable and new income sources but the corporation is not serious about it,” said Prabhakar Shinde, group leader of the BJP.
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