Mumbai News: Mayor Ritu Tawde Directs BEST To Boost Revenue, Financial Discipline, Address Employee Demands

Mumbai, March 27: Mayor Ritu Tawde directed the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) administration to prioritise financial discipline, enhance revenue generation and improve overall operational efficiency.

She further instructed officials to design and present effective long-term strategies and ensure their rigorous and timely implementation during a meeting held at the BMC headquarters on Friday.

Meeting focuses on employee demands

A joint meeting regarding the pending demands of employees of the BEST undertaking was held at the BMC's Standing Committee Hall at the headquarters. Mayor Tawde presided over the meeting.

Key issues discussed included the pending demands of both serving and retired employees of the BEST undertaking, such as gratuity, wage agreements, promotions, compassionate appointments, availability of self-owned buses and financial assistance.

Funding gap and financial concerns highlighted

The BMC, in its budget for the financial year 2026–27, has allocated Rs 1,000 crore to the BEST undertaking. However, BEST had sought Rs 3,000 crore from the BMC, citing rising operational costs and mounting financial losses.

Push for self-reliance and fleet expansion

In this context, Tawde, while interacting with office-bearers of the BEST Workers’ Union and the BEST Joint Action Committee, took note of their concerns and difficulties. She stated that effective measures would need to be formulated to make BEST financially strong and self-reliant.

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Tawde also underlined that expanding the fleet of buses owned by BEST is the need of the hour and assured that positive steps would be taken in that direction.

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