Mumbai’s development is likely to burn a hole in your pockets. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has proposed additional cess and taxes on property and fuel, and even fee on annual renewal of vehicle licenses. The residents of Mumbai and its metropolitan region (MMR) will have to pay to fill up the state coffers under the proposed Urban Transport Fund. The MMRDA made this information public on November 9 in a three page summary of the second edition of comprehensive Transport Study (cTS) report running into several hundred pages. In the next 20 years, the MMRDA hopes to generate revenue of Rs 1.03 lakh crore through the additional cess and taxes.
The MMRDA has also proposed to levy development charge and premium on additional FSi, 1% cess on stamp duty, 5% on goods, 2-3% on fuel; taxes and duties can be levied on the purchase of new vehicles, salary structure, pay-and-park, advertisements and sales, redevelopment of areas around railway and metro stations. Apart from this, it is also proposing land asset monetisation, creating growth centres, commercialisation of depots and terminals as well. This, as per its calculations, can help in generating Rs 1.03 lakh crore till 2041. The MMRDA has also suggested taxes and duties that can be levied on proposed development of residential, commercial and industrial areas. The second edition of the cTS report stated that there is a scope to generate revenue of anywhere between Rs 3.67 lakh crore and Rs 4.10 lakh crore through various means.
The cTS states that MMR in 2016 had a population of 24.6 million and was the sixth-largest metropolitan region in the world. The MMR comprises Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayandar, Kalyan-Dombivali, etc. To make it further liveable, the MMRDA has proposed to spend Rs 5.02 lakh crore only on the creation of traffic and transport infrastructure from 2021 to 2041.
This means that on an annual average the MMRDA will spend Rs 25,000 crore. However, if we look at an overall redevelopment, which includes other infrastructure upgrades of water supply, sewerage, drainage, solid waste management, etc. then MMRDA will have to make an investment of a humongous Rs 5.9 lakh crore till 2041 with average annual spending of Rs 30,000 crore. This includes spending Rs 2.21 lakh crore on Metro rail network, Rs 95,608 crore on suburban trains, Rs 16,000 crore on dedicated bus lanes and buses, Rs 1.14 lakh crore on development of highways, passenger water transport will require Rs 1,875 crore, Rs 3,550 crore for bus terminals, Rs 1,500 crore for rail terminals, Rs 2,000 crore plus on truck terminals and more than Rs 45,200 crore on vehicle management systems.
