The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) presented its Rs 74,427 crore budget for 2025-26, with no hike in property tax or water supply tax. However, new revenue measures include a solid waste levy and taxation of commercial slums. With BMC handling projects worth over Rs 2 lakh crore, civic chief Bhushan Gagrani announced restrained new project approvals. The budget also proposed reforms in trade license fees and alternative revenue streams. Meanwhile, the Opposition slammed the budget, alleging it benefits private contractors at the cost of ordinary Mumbaikars.
As the civic body is handling projects worth over Rs 2 lakh crore, the civic authority has decided to introduce new projects only if deemed essential for the city. The BMC announced the Mumbai Eye project, modelled after the United Kingdom’s iconic London Eye. The project will require 2 to 3 acres of land, with the location to be decided later.
Civic chief outlined eight alternative ways to increase revenue. “We have decided to request state government to identify key projects as mega projects. If these projects receive this classification, we will get a 50 per cent share of stamp duty,” Gagrani said. After implementing the decision to recover property tax from commercial slums, the BMC can consider charging water fees at commercial rates for commercial slum properties, Gagrani added.
“There is no proposed property tax hike in the budget, but we are exploring ways to boost revenue. We will follow up with the government to recover pending property tax and water tax dues of approximately Rs 9,700 crore,” he added.
A majority of property taxpayers currently pay only 50 per cent of their dues as per an interim writ petition order. As of March 2024, the total outstanding property tax amounts to Rs 22,565.38 crore. “Amendments to the rules are under process, pending the final Supreme Court decision on the petition,” Gagrani stated.
Since the term of the corporators ended on March 7, 2022, the BMC has been under an administrator. The budget for FY 2025-26 is 14.19 per cent higher than the Rs 65,180.79 crore allocated for FY 2024-25. This marks the third consecutive year the budget has been presented to an administrator instead of the standing committee.
To manage finances, BMC has planned to raise Rs 16,699.78 crore through an internal temporary transfer from fixed deposits in 2025-26. In 2024-25, it estimated withdrawals of Rs 12,119.47 crore from fixed deposits. The total fixed deposits with BMC stand at R81,774.42 crore, of which R39,543.64 crore is reserved for infrastructure development and Rs 42,230.78 crore is earmarked for commitments such as pensions, provident funds, gratuities, and contractor deposits.
The BMC has reduced its revenue expenditure from 75 per cent to 42 per cent while increasing infrastructure spending from 25 per cent to 58 per cent. “If we receive requests from locals who do not want concrete roads in their locality, we will think about it,” said Bhushan Gagrani.
“This budget will speed up Mumbai’s development and bring its dreams closer to reality. It balances infrastructure growth with environmental priorities. Those who controlled the system for the past 25 years, along with their contractor allies, should be held accountable. We want elections to be held soon.” Adv. Ashish Shelar, Guardian Minister, Mumbai Suburbs. The budget estimate for 2024-25 was R59,954 crore, while the revised budget for 2024-25 stands at R64,238.97 crore.
Opposition tears into budget
“BMC’s budget is not for Mumbaikars but for Adani’s Lagaan Vasooli,” said Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad. “With R2.32 lakh crore in liabilities, who will pay? Ordinary Mumbaikars. The civic reserves of Rs 30,954 crore are set to be drained, while cost escalations in ongoing projects create another bonanza for Adani Sarkar’s contractor friends,” Gaikwad said.
“This budget introduces an `Adani Tax` on Mumbaikars. Small businesses will be taxed, while Adani gets a free hand to loot the city. With one in two Mumbaikars living in slums, this is an economic assault that will break Mumbai’s backbone. BMC’s obligatory waste management is now being turned into a ‘paid service.’ Mumbaikars will be forced to pay waste collection charges, while taxpayer money is used to clear waste at Deonar,” she said.
“Public land is being leased, monetised, and sold off, turning Mumbai’s prime spaces into a business playground. Core sectors are being ignored—only 1 per cent of capital expenditure is allocated to primary education, just 5 per cent to public health, and the BEST revival remains a wet-leasing privatisation disaster. Contractors are profiting from a city dug up with no roadmap or accountability for the road concreting scam, while no real measures exist to combat Mumbai’s worsening air pollution,” she added.
Questioning the civic body`s financial credibility, Gaikwad said, “Twenty-one per cent of the budgeted capital expenditure for 2024-25 remains unspent, yet estimates are heavily inflated again. By December 31, only 48 per cent of income targets for FY 2024-25 were met. So how will this bloated expenditure be funded? By taxing ordinary citizens, selling public lands, commercialising prime octroi lands, and looting public reserves.”
Property tax figures
>> Revised revenue for 2024-25: R6,200 crore (up from the original estimate of R4,950 crore).
>> Proposed revenue for 2025-26: R5,200 crore.
>> Property tax collected up to December 2024: R5,229.20 crore (including R1,491.36 crore from 2023-24).
Water and sewage charges
>> Initial revenue estimate for 2024-25: R1,923.19 crore (revised to R2,131.98 crore, a 10.86 per cent increase).
>> Revenue collected by December 31, 2024: R1,141.56 crore.
>> Projected revenue for 2025-26: R2,363.15 crore.
BMC’s income sources
Grant-in-aid on account of compensation in lieu of octroi: Rs 14,398 cr
Receipts from development plan department: Rs 9700cr
Property tax: Rs 5200 cr
Water and sewerage charges: Rs 2363.15cr
Interest on investment: Rs 2283.89cr
Supervision charges: Rs 2130.17cr
Grant-in-aid from govt: Rs 1325.07cr
Fire brigade department: Rs 759.18cr
Receipts from roads and bridges: Rs 532.43cr
Receipts from hospitals and medical colleges: Rs 396.04cr
Receipts from licence dept: Rs 362 cr
Other receipts: Rs 4509.31 cr
Internal transfer: Rs 16,699 cr
Utilisation from special fund: Rs 12,858 cr
Premium of land: Rs 596.51 cr
Grants: Rs 302.03 cr
Allocations
Urban mobility
The civic body has started concreting stretches that can be finished by the monsoon
Road department provision of Rs 5100 crore
Road concreting: About 2050 km of roads are maintained by the BMC. Till now, approximately 1333 km of roads have been concreted in Phase I and Phase 2. At least 75 per cent of Phase-I work and 50 per cent of Phase-2 work are proposed to be completed before June 2025, which will help to minimise the issue of potholes during monsoon.
Walkability: A ‘Universal Footpath Policy’ has already been formulated and proposed to be implemented in Greater Mumbai.
Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad
Traffic measures for decongestion: A work order has been issued for the improvement of one junction on EEH and three on WEH. The traffic department has planned to develop a parking app through which citizens will be able to book vehicle slots in advance.
Multilevel robotic car parking: Work orders have been issued for 194-capacity multilevel car parking near Flora Fountain (Hutatma Chowk) in the A Ward. The tendering process for 640 four-wheelers and 112 two-wheelers at Worli Engineering Hub is on.
Bridges: The BMC is striving to complete the construction of ROBs at Vikhroli Bridge, Nahur Bridge (Phase-1), Gokhale Bridge and Carnac Bridge before monsoon and open the same for traffic. Also, BMC intends to complete the Bellasis Bridge work by the end of 2025.
The Nariman Point to Worli Coastal Road: Rs 507.24 crore has been provided for this. The work of the Nariman Point to Worli Coastal Road is 94 per cent completed. The remaining work will be completed by May 2025.
There is a proposal to develop two fire stations one at Worli and another near Priyadarshini Park for the Coastal Road.
North coastal road: Rs 4300 crore has been set aside for this project. The Versova to Dahisar and Dahisar to Bhayandar link roads are part of the northern section of the coastal road.
Goregaon Mulund Link Road: Rs 1958.73 crore has been provided for this prestigious project, which is being implemented in four phases. Phase-3 work includes the construction of an underground twin tunnel traversing through SGNP and Aarey. The entire work is planned to be completed by 2028.
Tenements for PAP: Around 5,000 to 10,000 tenements will be built for Project Affected People (PAP) per zone from private landowners in lieu of land TDR and construction TDR as per the provisions of DCPR 2034 plus premium amount as viability gap funding in the form of credit notes.
Solid waste management
Provision of Rs 5548 crore
A waste-to-energy project with a 600-tonnes-per-day capacity is being developed at Deonar dumping ground.
Processing and disposal of construction and demolition waste: Citizens can avail of a C&D waste collection facility toll-free as well as via the MyBMC mobile app. The BMC has established two scientific processing facilities at Dahisar and Daighar for C&D waste, each with a capacity of 600 tonnes per day.
Dumpsite reclamation at Mulund dumping ground: The BMC has undertaken the work to process and dispose of 70 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste and to reclaim 24 hectares of land at the Mulund dumping ground by June 2025.
Bio-CNG plant at Deonar dumping ground: The BMC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mahanagar Gas Limited for setting up a Bio-CNG plant with a capacity of about 1000 tonnes per day.
Flood mitigation (stormwater drainage): Rs 2200 crore has been provided to tackle 84 of the 453 flooding spots in Mumbai. The remaining 369 spots have been addressed.
Tourist attraction: A ‘Mumbai Public Park’ will come up on a plot comprising 120.12 acres of land taken over from The Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd and 170 acres of land reclaimed under the Mumbai Coastal Road (South) Project.
Anandvan Green Belt: The BMC intends to develop this belt along the periphery of Sanjay Gandhi National Park between Borivli and Goregaon.
Redevelopment of Fashion Street: This stretch, located between the heritage sites of Cross Maidan and Azad Maidan, is undergoing well-organised redevelopment, which includes improved bus stops, uniform stall designs and beautification from a heritage perspective.
Mini theatres: Theatres at Wadala and Ghatkopar will be repaired, renovated and inaugurated soon.
Development of Koliwadas: It has been decided to provide various infrastructural facilities in order to develop Koliwadas to attract tourists. The BMC made provision of the Rs 20 crore for this purpose.
Tiger monument: Under Goregaon Mulund Link road project BMC intend to construct a tiger monument in collaboration with the forest and tourist department of the state government by finding a suitable place in the tunnel passing underneath Sanjay Gandhi National Park
Kala Ghoda and Regal Cinema Junction precinct: Kala Ghoda precinct is being developed with a view to enrich the culture and history of the place to enrich the overall experience of visitors.
Mumbai Eye: The BMC intends to erect this attraction on the lines of London Eye at a suitable location under the PPP model.
New projects on fast track
>> Development of water treatment plant with a 910 MLD (million litre per day) at Panjrapur near Bhiwandi
>> 455 MLD capacity pumping station at Pise village, Bhiwandi
>> The Gargai project, which has a capacity of 440 MLD, is also on the fast track
>> Desalination initiative
A consultant has been appointed to establish the Sustainability Projects Unit or SPU in the water and wastewater sector for the planning, implementation and monitoring of climate resilient, sustainable water and wastewater services.
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