After the Union Budget, Mumbaikars are now waiting for the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Budget 2019-20. The stage is all set when the BMC chief Ajoy Mehta will present annual budget 2019-20 on February 4. The BMC continues to be India’s richest municipal corporation, with reserves of over Rs 69,885 crore which has been built by the savings and surplus garnered over the years.
BMC Budget 2018-19
The BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta tabled the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) budget for the fiscal 2018-19 of Rs 27,258 crore which was an eight percent increase as compared to 2017. The budget laid emphasis on infrastructure development; roads, healthcare and improvements in civic infrastructure viz. water supply and sewerage disposal.
Failure to spend the budget of 2017-2018
The BMC has failed to spend the 2018-19 budget. The BMC has only spent about 37% of the last year’s budget. Of the Rs 27,258.07 crore budgeted outlays for 2018-19, the capital expenditure was estimated to be Rs 9,547.30 crore. Of this, BMC has so far spent Rs 3,508.10 crore, or 36.74 percent. In 2017-18, the BMC had budgeted Rs 8,121.59 crore for capital works, of which, it had managed to spend Rs 4,978.48 crore. Municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta told the Indian Express, “The capital expenditure might seem low because as of December, many bills are yet to be approved. We are confident that we will spend over 88 percent of our capital expenditure.”
What to expect in BMC budget 2019-20
For the budget 2019-20, the expectation is that the BMC will address issues of basic facilities, such as roads, water supply, and sanitation. Experts from the city also want the BMC to focus on smaller projects like pedestrian facilities, parks, social amenities rather than only focusing on big projects. The budget will also likely give a push to infrastructure projects, sewage treatment plants (STPs) and improve the quality of roads.
DM Sukhtankar, the former municipal commissioner, told the Hindustan Times, “The civic budget should focus on providing basic amenities to the city, such as better access to primary health care, good sanitation, better roads. It should prioritise completing pending infrastructure projects, which are of course the need of the hour for a growing city. Mumbai cannot ignore infrastructure upgradations, but it is pointless to announce new projects if we do not complete existing ones.
The BMC may increase the 2019-20 budget by may increase the budget by 20-22 percent. The BMC budget 2019-20 may increase to Rs 33 crore, reports Mumbai Live. This move can help fasten the work for the projects proposed by the civic body. For the development of the Coastal Road, Goregaon-Mulund Link Road, and the redevelopment of Deonar Slaughterhouses along with other mega projects, the BMC may allocate a huge amount from the budget.
