The Budget Estimates of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for the year 2023-24 was presented on February 4, 2023, at the BMC headquarters in Mumbai. Photo credit: Twitter/@mybmc
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the country’s richest civic body, on February 4 presented a budget of Rs 52,619.07 crore for the year 2023-24, with the budgetary estimates crossing the Rs 50,000-crore mark for the first time.
This time the budget is 14.52 percent more than the estimate. Amount for 2022-23 ₹45,949 crore,
The BMC administration presented the budget to Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, who was appointed as the civic body’s administrator by the state government in March last year after the corporators’ five-year term ended.
The budget document states, “The budget estimates for the financial year 2023-24 are proposed at Rs 52,619.07 crore, which is 14.52% higher than the budget estimates for 2022-23, which is 45,949.21 crore.”
This is the first time since 1985 that the administration of the country’s richest civic body presented the budget to an administrator.
Addressing a press conference after presenting the budget, Chahal said, “This is the first time in the history of BMC that the budget estimate has crossed the mark of Rs 50,000 crore.”
In the budget, the civic administration has allocated Rs 27,247.80 crore for capital expenditure and Rs 25,305.94 crore for revenue expenditure.
Mr Chahal also said that it is for the first time that the civic body is going to spend 52% of the budget estimates on capital expenditure and 48% on revenue expenditure.
According to the budget document, ₹3,545 crore has been allocated for the ambitious Coastal Road project, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, while ₹1,060 crore has been earmarked for the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road, which will connect the western suburbs. Will reduce the travel distance between Mumbai and Thane cities, and ₹2,825 crore for traffic operations and road projects.
Actual capital expenditure of ₹8,398.35 crore has been made till December 2022, which is 40.26% of the Revised Estimates for FY 22-23.
“Health, education, environment and transparent functioning are the four pillars of our budget,” Chahal said.
BMC elections are pending. The election was delayed due to factors such as the coronavirus pandemic, delimitation of wards and the OBC quota.