Mumbai: State owes BMC Rs 7,000 cr, most in education aid

BMC chief I S Chahal addresses the media on Saturday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The state government owes the BMC more than Rs 7,000 crore, including Rs 5,419.14 crore in education grant, according to BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal who presented the civic budget on Saturday.

According to the BMC's data, the dues rose by Rs 1,949.20 crore in the past two years. As of December 31, 2022, Rs 7,223.42 crore is outstanding with various departments of the state government. Civic officials said dues also include property and water tax.

"For the recovery or adjustment of the outstanding dues, vigorous follow-up is being done by the relevant civic department," Chahal said in his budget speech. "Considering the overall development work underway in Mumbai, huge funds are required and hence we request the government to consider our request for payment of dues owned by various state departments," he added.

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In the 2022-23 budget estimate, the BMC had said it would get Rs 1,126.17 crore as grant from the state government until December, but it received only Rs 9.79 crore. In the revised budget, BMC put the figure at Rs 629.68 crore, which was mentioned in the civic chief's budget speech of 2023-24.

Civic activist Anil Galgali said the government should pay the dues as it is a huge amount. "The BMC is building a 360-bed super-speciality hospital in Nahur, known as the Bhandup super-speciality hospital. It will cost around Rs 670 crore. If BMC receives the entire pending amount, it can build at least 10 more such hospitals. The money can also be used to repair roads."

Rs 5,419.14cr
Amount pending in education grand