Mumbai, August 31, 2026: With civic works facing rising costs, corporators across party lines are pushing for a hefty hike in their annual ward development fund from Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore per corporator.
They argue that the existing allocation is no longer enough to meet mounting ward-level demands, including road repairs, sanitation, public toilets, garden upkeep and other urgent civic works.
A notice of motion moved by a BJP corporator seeking the 67% increase is set to come for approval in the BMC's next general body meeting.
BJP Corporator Seeks Fund Hike
BJP corporator Ashwini Mate, who moved the notice of motion seeking an increase in the annual discretionary fund allocated to each corporator, cited Mumbai’s growing population, escalating civic expenditure and rising inflation as reasons for the hike.
She argued that the current allocation is no longer sufficient to meet urgent ward-level needs, including road repairs, sanitation, public toilets, garden beautification and other civic works.
The proposal also highlights the sharp rise in material and labour costs, which has made it increasingly difficult to execute essential development works within the existing Rs 60-lakh cap.
Supporting the move, Sachin Padwal, senior corporator of Shiv Sena (UBT), said the existing allocation for ward-level development is grossly inadequate and needs to be substantially increased.
“There are two types of funds available to a corporator. The corporator fund can be utilised anywhere within the ward. However, the Rs 1 crore development fund is specifically earmarked for essential civic works such as gutter repairs, toilet repairs, road concreting and other work. Moreover, 18 per cent GST and another 14 per cent in various BMC charges are deducted from the allocated amount. In effect, a substantial portion of the fund is lost before the actual work begins. At the same time, the BMC’s schedule of rates has changed considerably over the last nine years, pushing up the cost of every civic project."
“This is not merely a demand for more money for corporators; it is a demand for adequate funds for the people of every ward. We have consistently demanded that the corporator fund be increased to Rs 1 crore so that elected representatives can effectively respond to the genuine civic needs of their constituents.”
Opposition Backs Proposal
Ashraf Azmi, Congress group leader, said, “Since we are in the Opposition, the corporator fund is the only source available to us for carrying out civic works in our wards. The allocation for each of the 227 corporators is already inadequate. If another Rs 40 lakh is added and made a budgetary provision, it will become a committed allocation and cannot be arbitrarily taken away.”
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Earlier, the corporator fund was around Rs 35 lakh, which was increased to Rs 60 lakh in 2011. Since then, there has been no revision in the allocation despite rising costs and increasing civic needs, said corporators. Once approved by the BMC House, the notice of motion will be forwarded to the Municipal Commissioner for consideration.
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