Prajakta Kasale and Chetna Sadadekar mailbag@ mid- day. com THE 2020- 21 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation ( BMC) budget presented by municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi on Tuesday was painted in the vision of the Thackeray father- son duo.
With Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray heading the state, the BMC is hoping to boost its falling income by reforming the tax structure, recover an R800- crore grant from the state, and develop new income avenues from pending development projects.
The R 33,441- crore budget has high allocation for the coastal road, Byculla zoo revamp, the revival of BEST, and a mention of tourism and cityu2019s aesthetics u2014 all of which are part of Thackerayu2019s aims. Pardeshi even thanked CM Thackeray for his guidance on the Mumbai 2030 vision.
Pardeshi said the corporation cannot rely too much on the GST compensation and is expecting the stateu2019s support to invest its fixed deposits in government bonds and debentures. He increased the fees for municipal services and said there will be a five per cent hike every year henceforth. u201c We are also expecting the state to release outstanding dues amounting to R 800 crore, which includes R 600 crore that SRA owes us,u201d said Pardeshi. BMC is expecting R 1,500 crore from property tax and R 500 crore after revision of the Estate policy at the state level.
The coastal road was allocated R 2,000 crore and the BEST an aid of R 1,500 crore.
These, developing tourism and the cityu2019s aesthetics were discussed by Pardeshi and Thackeray in a meeting last month. u201c For the first time, a Mumbai- born is the CM of Maharashtra. This is a great opportunity to transform the city,u201d Pardeshi said.
u2018 With Uddhav as CM, our city will be a happy oneu2019 Municipal chief also mentions how body cannot rely too much on stateu2019s GST compensation BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi ( R) presents the budget on Tuesday.
PIC/ SURESH KARKERA Reducing expenditure u00a3 Hiring for all vacancies on hold to reduce expenditure by R 500 crore u00a3 Hire apprentices for six months to a year to serve as clerks and other technical posts u00a3 Payment of remaining 50% pension under 7th pay commission in three instalments
