MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India’s wealthiest municipal body, presented its budget, BMC Budget, for the financial year 2025-26 on Tuesday, estimating expenditures at Rs 74,427 crore. This marks a 14.19 per cent increase from the previous year’s budget estimate of Rs 65,180.79 crore.
The budget was presented by the additional municipal commissioners to BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, who serves as the state-appointed administrator of the civic body.
This is the third consecutive year that the budget has been presented to the administrator, following the dissolution of the standing committee after the corporators’ term ended on March 7, 2022.
Key allocations in BMC’s budget
One of the significant provisions in the BMC budget is the Rs1,000 crore allocation to the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking.
BEST, which operates a fleet of around 3,000 buses and serves over 30 lakh commuters daily, continues to face financial challenges. Despite BMC’s own fiscal commitments, it has provided this grant considering the dire financial situation of BEST.
The funds will be used for infrastructure development, capital equipment purchases, loan repayments, wet lease buses, pay revisions, daily operations, the Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS) project, employee bonuses, pensioner dues, and electricity bills.
Additionally, the BMC has committed Rs128.65 crore (5 per cent of the project cost) for procuring 2,000 electric buses for Mumbai, as per state directives.
Since 2012-13, BMC has provided Rs11,304.59 crore in financial assistance to BEST, which currently has an accumulated loss of around Rs 9,500 crore.
Furthermore, Rs992 crore has been sanctioned by the 15th Finance Commission for BEST’s electric bus purchases, of which Rs493.38 crore has already been disbursed.
BMC vs Kerala’s budget
BMC’s budget, at Rs 74,427 crore, is enormous for a municipal body with the size close to one-third of Kerala state budget for 2024-25 estimated at Rs2,55,386 crore.
Moreover, BMC’s budget remains larger than many state budgets in India. The financial magnitude of Mumbai’s civic administration highlights the city’s economic importance and the extensive infrastructural and service-related responsibilities shouldered by BMC.
The Kerala state budget for 2025-26 is expected to be presented on February 7, 2025. It will be interesting to see how its allocations compare with those of BMC, particularly in sectors like transport, urban development, and infrastructure investment.
