BMC prepares to table its first elected-corporators budget in four years with infrastructure projects taking centre stage. | AI Generated Representational Image
Mumbai, Feb 24: The BMC will table its 2026–27 budget on Wednesday — the first in nearly four years before newly elected corporators following the long-delayed civic polls. It will also be the first budget under the BJP, which has returned to power in the country’s richest municipal corporation after almost three decades.
No hike in direct taxes is likely. With infrastructure projects worth Rs 2.32 lakh crore already underway, the focus will remain on accelerating ongoing big-ticket works, including the Gargai Dam, the proposed desalination plant at Manori, the upgrade of seven sewage treatment plants, and the Versova–Dahisar Link Road.
After the five-year term of elected corporators ended in 2022, the BMC budgets for the past three years were presented by the Additional Municipal Commissioner to a state-appointed administrator. With the Standing Committee constituted last week, the 2026–27 budget will now be formally tabled before elected representatives.
Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani will present the budget to Standing Committee Chairman Prabhakar Shinde at the panel’s first meeting at the BMC headquarters on Wednesday. The upcoming budget will also be Gagrani’s last, as he is set to retire on March 31 this year.
Focus on development projects
In the current financial year, the BMC has prioritised allocations for major infrastructure projects. Key projects include the Rs 17,000 crore mega road concretisation initiative, the Rs 14,000 crore Goregaon–Mulund Link Road (GMLR), the upgradation of seven sewage treatment plants (STPs) with a combined budget of up to Rs 27,000 crore, and several crucial bridges across the city, including Carnac Bunder, Gokhale Bridge in Andheri, Vikhroli Connector, and Phase 1 of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project connecting Marine Drive to the Worli end of the Bandra–Worli Sea Link.
“We aim to complete the road concretisation work by year-end, so the provision will focus on the road department. The GMLR is expected to be completed by 2028, so work needs to be expedited. Attention will also be on the Versova–Dahisar–Bhayander Link Road, the construction of Gargai Dam, and the proposed desalination plant and the waste-to-energy plant at Deonar dumping ground,” said a senior civic official.
Financial strength
While the BMC did not raise property tax last year, it introduced levies on commercial units in slum areas. To recover pending dues, which had reached Rs 22,565.38 crore, the BMC has actively targeted major defaulters, successfully recovering several crores.
However, the corporation’s fixed deposits have dipped in recent months, falling from Rs 81,774 crore in February 2025 to Rs 77,000 crore.
Meanwhile, newly elected Mayor Ritu Tawde has assured that water rates will remain stable, suspending the usual annual hike of up to 8%. As a result, the budget is unlikely to see any increase in water taxes this year, said civic sources.
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Increasing budget size
The budget for the financial year 2025–26 was the BMC’s largest ever, totalling a staggering Rs 74,427 crore, along with a surplus of Rs 60.65 crore. To raise additional funds, the BMC mobilised Rs 16,699 crore through Internal Temporary Transfers (ITT).
Capital expenditure as a proportion of the budget has surged from 36% in 2022 to 58% in 2025. Over the same period, the overall budget size nearly doubled, rising from Rs 38,515 crore in 2022 to Rs 74,366 crore in 2025, according to BMC data.
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