Ruckus in Maharashtra legislative council over state govt keeping Mumbai civic body waiting for Rs 10,000 crore in grants

Mumbai: The issue of the BMC awaiting Rs 10,000 crore in govt grants resulted in a ruckus in the legislative council on Monday. The issue was first raised by Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Sunil Shinde. It triggered a sharp exchange between the treasury benches and the opposition over delayed payments and the civic body's financial stress.Shinde said the BMC undertook several major infrastructure and development projects over the past two to three years, pushing its outstanding liabilities to more than Rs 2.32 lakh crore. With no major rise in revenue sources, he said the civic body even began preparations to auction some of its own land parcels to mobilise funds, a development that reportedly came to light around Dec 2025.He further pointed out that the govt's pending dues to the BMC, which stood at Rs 9,700 crore in previous financial years, had now increased to Rs 10,900 crore in 2025. Of this, the largest unpaid component was from the education department at Rs 7,000 crore, followed by Rs 1,500 crore from the urban development department and Rs 900 crore from the housing department.Replying to the issue, minister Uday Samant said the govt would release the arrears in phases and take an early decision on allocating funds for all pending works, including major infrastructure projects. He said the state intended to strengthen the BMC financially and ensure that all legitimate dues were paid. Sources said that Rs 64 crore would be released very soon as part of the phased disbursal.The minister's assurance failed to satisfy the opposition. MLC Anil Parab questioned the timeline for the release of funds, calling the announcement a false promise. MLC Sachin Ahir said the inordinate delay in releasing grants to the BMC was unjustified and harmful to Mumbai's civic administration.The issue led to noisy scenes in the house, with opposition members raising slogans and urging the council chairperson to "give justice to Mumbaikars".In its written reply in council, the govt stated: "To increase the revenue sources of BMC, a decision was taken by the civic body on October 11, 2024, to lease out three plots on an experimental basis through the e-tender system for a period of first 30 years, with a subsequent 30-year extension. However, since a BEST receiving centre exists on the plot at Malabar Hill, the decision regarding that plot was cancelled. Accordingly, tenders were issued by the BMC for 2 plots. As per report received from BMC, a total of Rs 10,948 crore is outstanding as of January 31 from various departments under the State Govt towards educational grants, property tax, sewerage charges and water charges, other grants, and rebate amounts owed to civic corporation."Accordingly, Rs 7,241 crore is outstanding from the education department towards educational grants to BMC, Rs 934 crore is outstanding from the housing Department to BMC, and Rs 2,256 crore is outstanding from MMRDA and district collectors of Mumbai city and suburban to BMC as of January 31, as well as Rs 517 crore outstanding from other govt departments, the reply from the govt in the council mentioned.