BMC’s budget has almost doubled in 10 years. Image Credit source: AI Generated
Mayor elections are going to be held in 29 municipal corporations of Maharashtra on January 15. In these elections, there is a special focus on India’s richest municipal corporation, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The reason for this is that BMC is considered to be the most resource rich municipal corporation in the country. Its budget in the financial year 2024-25 was twice the total budget of the municipal corporations of Delhi and Bengaluru. So let us know from where does BMC earn and where does it spend the money?
According to media reports, the budget of BMC for the financial year 2024-25 was around ₹ 59,954.7 crore, while at the same time the budget of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was ₹ 16,683 crore and the budget of Bruhat Bengaluru Municipal Corporation (BBMP) was ₹ 12,369 crore. At the same time, the budget of Kolkata Municipal Corporation was only ₹ 5,166.5 crore. BMC’s budget has almost doubled in the last 10 years to reach ₹51,000 crore in the financial year 2024-25. Expenditures have also increased from ₹20,500 crore in financial year 2015-16 to ₹44,500 crore this year.
Where does BMC earn from?
BMC’s income has increased continuously in the last decade. It also has strong fixed deposits, the interest on which forms a part of its annual income. The total income of BMC in the financial year 2024-25 is estimated at ₹81,774 crore. Fees from various services, licenses and usage are the biggest source of income for BMC. After this comes grants and subsidies received from the state and central government, taxes and interest received on investments and reserves.
earns so much money from taxes
Between 2016 and 2025, BMC received ₹94,600 crore from fees and user charges. This includes many fees like registration fee, admission fee, late license renewal charge, swimming pool booking charge, demolition fee, advertisement fee, water connection fee. During the same period, BMC received grants and subsidies worth ₹86,700 crore from various government schemes and services provided by other government agencies. For example, in FY 2023-24, BMC recovered ₹61.7 crore from Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for cleaning Bandra-Kurla roads. Between financial years 2016 to 2025, Mumbai Municipal Administration earned ₹75,800 crore from taxes like road tax, theater tax, electricity tax, property tax, water tax.
BMC spends so much on roads and bridges
Most of BMC’s expenditure is on works like roads, bridges, sewage lines, public health services, education, security, employees’ salaries and pensions. In the last 10 years, BMC has spent ₹1,11,600 crore on the maintenance and development of the city. During this period, ₹10,700 crore was given as grants to hospitals, educational institutions, libraries and various funds and schemes. At the same time, ₹36,300 crore was spent on the operation and maintenance of public infrastructure.
Crores spent to prevent diseases
According to official documents, the city spent ₹8,600 crore on administrative work such as audit, insurance, legal expenses, advertising and public relations, fuel, travel, freight and vehicles. BMC also spends a lot on public health schemes. In FY 2024-25, ₹99.5 crore was spent on pesticides and insecticides to prevent mosquito-borne diseases and ₹12.8 crore was spent on controlling rats.