Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) introduced on 4 February 52,619.07 crore budget for the financial year 2023-24 and said that no new tax was imposed for the residents of Mumbai.
As per details, The 52,619.07 crore budget will focus on health, education and infrastructure. This is the first time the budgeted estimates have been exceeded 50,000 crore mark. This time the budget estimate is 14.52 percent more than the amount of 2022-23. 45,949 crores.
Weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about “money being locked up in banks”, the BMC said it would tap into some of its excess fixed deposit (FD) deposits. 88,000 crores for development projects.
Read also: Mumbai: BMC introduced 52,619 crore budget. Check Key Announcements
“It is for the first time in the history of the country’s richest civic body that the budgetary estimates for the financial year 2023-24 have crossed 50,000 crore mark and the capital expenditure is over 50 per cent, said BMC commissioner and administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal.
As per the BMC budget document, the budget estimates for the financial year 2023-24 are proposed 52,619.07 crore, which is higher than the budget estimate for 2022-23, ie 45,949.21 crore, 14.52 per cent.
It is also after 1985 that the Mumbai civic body presented the budget to an administrator as the corporators’ five-year term ended last year.
Commenting on the BMC budget, the BJP called it a budget “truly for Mumbaikars”, while Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray termed it as “pro-contractor” that would lead to Mumbai’s financial bankruptcy.
Total expenditure on health is estimated 6,309.38 crore, which is 12 per cent of the total budget, while the same for primary education 2,319.37 crore and 10,015.92 crore for water supply and sewage disposal, according to budget documents.
A provision of Rs 3,545 crore for the Coastal Road Project, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. 2,825 crore for traffic operations and roads, Rs 800 crore for Best Undertaking 1,382.28 crore in FY 22-23 and Against 227.07 crore to the fire brigade In the latest budget of BMC, a provision of 300 crores has been made in the financial year 22-23.
Among other things, the BMC announced 12 new projects in its budget, including construction of footpaths on both sides of 9-metre width roads, digitization of classrooms in civic-run schools, air quality monitoring and family health scheme.
Aaditya Thackeray tweeted that “BMC ruled by unconstitutional state government and administrator has been showing moral and legal bankruptcy since 6 months.”
The Aam Aadmi Party said the budget is “an annual ritual” aimed at throwing up big numbers, but the use of funds year after year reveals a “sinister saga of ineptitude and inefficiency”.
“a record 18,746 crore will be withdrawn from BMC’s reserve fund, which is unprecedented. This budget is not for the common man but for the contractor lobby.
With PTI inputs.
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