The Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) growing dependence on external consultants has sparked a political controversy after official records revealed that the civic body has spent more than ₹32 crore on specialist agencies and consultants in recent years.
The issue surfaced during the PMC general body meeting after opposition leader Nilesh Nikam sought details of consultants appointed over the past 15 years and the remuneration paid to them.
Information presented by the administration showed that over 30 consultants and external agencies have been engaged by various departments for development projects, technical supervision, audits and administrative work.
The disclosures have raised questions over the civic administration’s functioning, particularly as PMC already has a large number of engineers, technical officers and finance officials on its payroll.
According to the data, one of the highest expenditures was incurred on consultancy services linked to major infrastructure and development projects, where around ₹16.56 crore was reportedly spent. Another agency received nearly ₹4.45 crore for specialised services.
The Information Technology department also appointed third-party agencies for technical audits and related work. Several other departments similarly relied on external consultants for project execution and planning.
Opposition members criticised the expenditure, alleging unnecessary outsourcing and demanding transparency in the appointment process, consultant fees and the actual outcomes achieved through the contracts.
PMC officials, however, defended the appointments, stating that specialist agencies were hired wherever technical expertise and project-specific requirements made external consultation necessary.
