71 parks and playground open for CSR funding across Mumbai

BMC in Mumbai offers 71 CSR projects for gardens and open spaces, addressing city's shortage. Corporates urged to invest for public benefit, not privatization.

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has placed its first batch of projects before potential CSR partners, offering 71 proposals related to gardens, playgrounds and public open spaces across the city’s 26 administrative wards.

71 parks and playground open for CSR funding across Mumbai

The projects, which are open for corporate collaboration through CSR funding, range from ₹1 lakh for the development of HB Shivdasani Udyan in Sion to ₹10 crore for the development of Swargiya Balasaheb Thackeray Maidan in Borivali. Broadly, the proposals fall into two categories — development and renovation of public open spaces.

The move comes as Mumbai continues to face an acute shortage of accessible recreational spaces. A joint study by the Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) and NGO NAGAR last year examined open spaces in K-West ward (Andheri West) and P-North ward (Malad) and found that only 187 of the 627 identified public open spaces, or about 30%, were fully accessible for recreation.

According to the BMC’s Environment Status Report 2024-25, Mumbai has 325 gardens, 480 recreational grounds and 369 playgrounds. Yet accessibility remains limited in several parts of the city.

The shortfall is even starker in some neighbourhoods. A survey by Bombay Greenway, an urban planning foundation focused on design, data and open-space advocacy, found that residents of Bandra, Khar and Santacruz West, all within the BMC’s H-West ward, had access to only 0.87 square metres of open space per person for a population of 3.21 lakh. Active play space availability stood at just 0.15 square metres per person, lower than Mumbai’s overall open-space availability and significantly below the World Health Organisation’s minimum recommendation of 9 square metres.

Prashant Sapkale, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Zone II), who is spearheading the CSR initiative, said all departments identified for participation had been asked to submit project proposals.

“The first list came from the Gardens Department under DMC Ajit Kumar Ambi. We uploaded the proposals and the response has been encouraging. We have received enquiries from corporates as well as public sector undertakings,” Sapkale told HT.

The 71 proposals have been distributed across all wards to ensure geographical balance. A civic source said each ward has roughly three projects on the list.

Sapkale said proposals from the Education Department have also been received and are expected to be uploaded shortly. Similar submissions have come from the Health Department. However, no project has yet been formally adopted by a corporate entity, he added.

Corporate stakeholders said open-space projects are often viewed as among the most practical CSR investments. A member of a CSR board noted that gardens and playgrounds generally require one-time capital expenditure, unlike schools and hospitals that involve substantial recurring operational costs. Since long-term maintenance remains the responsibility of the civic body, corporates can help create visible public assets without taking on continuing expenditure.

The CSR board member added that parks, gardens and playgrounds benefit entire neighbourhoods and are used by residents across age groups. In a densely populated city where open spaces are scarce, such projects can generate immediate and widespread public benefit.

Trivankumar Karnani, founder of MNCDF Citizen Welfare Forum, cautioned that the initiative should not become “a trojan horse for the subtle privatisation of Mumbai’s shrinking public commons under the guise of Corporate Social Responsibility.”

He said the BMC must establish strong institutional safeguards to ensure public assets remain fully public and that corporate recognition through a “wall of fame” does not eventually evolve into ownership, control or exclusive stewardship of civic spaces.