World’s richest municipality gets richer: has Rs 92,000 crore FDs now

18% increase comes after building premiums reduced by half

geetanjali

Geetanjali Minhas | March 2, 2022 | Mumbai


#Mumbai   #BMC   #urban governance   #pandemic  


In a bonanza of sorts, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation fixed deposits have jumped from Rs 78,000 crore to over Rs 92,000 crore during in eight months.

The 18% growth in the FD kitty has come after the state government reduced building premiums by 50%. In financial year 2021-22 BMC estimated Rs 27,811 crore income including Rs 2,000 crore from the development plan. But after the state government of Maharashtra slashed the premium to half, BMC earned an income of Rs 13,543 crore till January 2022 and expected to earn another Rs 1,207 crore by the end of the current financial year. This has resulted in an estimated increase in income from Rs 27,811 crore to Rs 37,538 crore within the current financial year.

Going back, at the end of 2011-12, the BMC had reserves of Rs 26876 crore in FDs. Within the next six years the FD amount increased to Rs 72,000 crore and thereafter remained stagnant due to gradual decrease of income sources like property tax, premium on development work as well as BMC’s infrastructure projects including Coastal Road, construction of roads and bridges among others.

In 2020-2021 due to pandemic, as income reduced for the civic body there was no increase in FD amount and for the first time in a decade the amount reduced by around Rs 450 crore. However, on account of reduction in premiums, by December-end in the current fiscal, the FD amount increased to Rs 87,131 crore and added another Rs 5,504 crore in January to the kitty, thereby increasing the total FD amount over Rs 92,000 by the end of the month. With another month for the financial year to close, the FD has already registered an 18% growth.

BMC Fixed deposits (in Cr)

March 2018: Rs 72,000
March 2019: Rs 76,579
March 2020: Rs 79,116
March 2021: Rs 78,745
January 2022: Rs 92,636

“Due to 50% reduction in premiums charged on building proposals between March 21 to December 21, BMC has a windfall of nearly Rs 14,000 crore of additional income during the last 11 months (due to increase in volumes wherein 2,860 new construction projects got approved – most of which were non-viable with full premiums) resulting in unprecedented jump in BMC reserves from Rs 78,000 crore to nearly Rs 93,000 crore now. A real win-win situation where the real estate sector (the backbone of Mumbai) is on fast track now (despite last two years of Covid pandemic) resulting in tremendous boost in employment in this sector for the next three years at least,” said municipal commissioner IS Chahal.

 

Comments

 

Other News

Gandhian movement after Gandhi failed: Ram Guha

The Gandhian movement in India, after Gandhi’s death, failed, says Ramachandra Guha, and blames Vinoba Bhave for it. But the movement found new, fertile grounds around the world and succeeded in bringing about a change in South Africa, the US and elsewhere. It is high time it returned home. Of cour

When religion, politics and Bollywood come together

Tavleen Singh, noted journalist and political commentator, has turned to fiction, with her debut novel ‘The Actor’ (HaperCollins India). Set in the near future, it has a superstar, Amit Singh, turning to politics, when the political landscape is dominated by prime minister Guru Gaynendraj

Cabinet approves setting up of Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of Transp

Why foundational literacy and numeracy is key to school education

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) are often described as the building blocks of education. Yet, their significance goes well beyond a child’s ability to read a sentence, write a response or solve a basic mathematical problem. These foundational skills shape how children understand the world,

When police data becomes the algorithm

For decades, policing has followed a familiar sequence: a crime occurs, the police respond, an investigation produces records and those records become part of the institutional memory of the criminal justice system. Artificial intelligence is beginning to alter that sequence. Instead of merely recording

Before India voted, the framers worried about the referee

“We are making a Constitution forever and not only for today.” Shibban Lal Saksena said this in the Constituent Assembly on June 15, 1949. He was warning that a ruling party might one day choose a loyalist to run India’s elections. Seventy-seven years later, the Supreme Court is wrestli

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter