On Saturday Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal will, for the first time in 38 years, present the budget in the absence of corporators. According to civic officials, a provision of ₹50,000 crore will be made for the 2023-24 financial year, which would be an increase of a little over ₹4,000 crore than last year’s ₹45,949 crore. The focus would be on education, health, and infrastructure, they said.
Last year’s allocation for education was around ₹3,370.24 crore with emphasis on digital classrooms. On the infrastructure front, BMC is likely to allocate funds for construction of a new flyover to decongest the city, and for Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR). Big-ticket projects like Coastal Road and GMLR had found major allocations last year as well with ₹3,200 crore and ₹1,300 crore respectively. The civic body had in last year’s budget proposed to set up 100 Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray health centres in the first phase. At these centres, 139 types of test could be carried out at nominal rates. After BMC’s deliberative wing, comprising corporators, was dissolved on March 8, 2022, Chahal took over as the administrator.