Mumbai: BMC Unveils Record Rs 52, 619.07 crore Budget For City With Massive Capex Push For Big-ticket Infrastructure Projects

In a big impetus to big-ticket infrastructure projects currently being executed in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has made record allocations for them in the civic body's budget for 2023-24 in comparison to the past three years.

The size of the civic body's budget for the year 2023-24 Municipal is estimated to be Rs 52, 619.07 crores, representing a 14.52% increase over the 2022-23 budget at Rs 45,949.21 crores.

The BMC has allocated Rs 27,247 crores for capital expenditure towards infrastructure projects, including roads, stormwater drains and water projects.

In the absence of an elected civic body, Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal presented the budget for 2023-24 on Feb 4.

While refraining from announcing new projects, the commissioner committed to expediting key ongoing projects Coastal Road Project, Goregaon-Mulund Link Road, and the waste-to-energy plant for the Deonar dumping ground. 

Significant allocations were made for the sewage treatment plants that Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated during his visit to Mumbai.

Rs 3,545 crore was allocated for the Mumbai Coastal Road project. The project, set to be completed by November 202, is an eight-lane coastal road that will be 10.58 km long, including a twin tunnel of 2.070 Km from Princess Street Flyover at Marine Lines to the Worli end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL). Seventy per cent of the overall work on the Coastal Road project has been completed.

BMC also allocated Rs 1,060 crores for the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road(GMLR) project. The BMC is executing the project in four packages. While 70 per cent of the work on the first package has been completed for the Nahur road overbridge (ROB), 65 per cent of the work has been completed for road widening. 

During the budget presentation, the commissioner said that tenders had been published for the Thane-Borivali tunnel project, and work would be completed by 2028. 

The Thane-Borivali tunnel project is part of the GMLR project that envisages creating an east-west corridor for traffic movement, connecting Mulund in the eastern suburbs with Goregaon in the western suburbs. Currently, there is no direct connectivity between these areas, and commuters must take a detour from Ghodbunder Road in Thane or Powai. Both these roads remain gridlocked during peak hours.

The sewage treatment projects that include the upgradation of the seven Waste Water Treatment facilities received an allocation of Rs 2,792 crore.

The BMC also made provisions for the construction of an elevated road from Dahisar (W) to Bhayander and the connecting bridge at Fishermen colony in Central Mumbai near Mahim, between Senapati Bapat Marg and Western Expressway.