BMC plans 50 locations for setting up food trucks in Mumbai, slots to be auctioned

The slots for setting up food trucks at 50 locations will be auctioned on the same lines as slots for on-street parking lots are done in Mumbai

Municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on Wednesday directed civic body officials to formulate a comprehensive policy for allowing setting up of food trucks at 50 locations in the city. According to the plan, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to draft a policy after taking into consideration the views from other stakeholders like the health department of BMC, Mumbai Traffic Police (MTP) and Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB).

Some of the food trucks in Mumbai will be given by the BMC to women self-help groups. (Hindustan Times)

The slots for setting up food trucks at 50 locations will be auctioned on the same lines as slots for on-street parking lots are done in the city. Once the policy is out, the BMC will float tenders and pick bidders to run the food trucks. Some of the food trucks will be given by the BMC to women self-help groups.

A BMC official who attended the meeting said, “A detailed food truck policy will be rolled out. It will be selling cooked food and not vegetables and fruits. The finer details will be worked out. All food trucks will require an NOC from the traffic police and other departments like the fire brigade. We will also identify the location and fix timings for the food trucks as part of the policy.”

The official added, “As per the plan, every ward will get at least two locations where food trucks can be kept. However, the number of slots will be depending on the area available in the particular area.”

Earlier, the plan was to set up food trucks in khau gallis in all 24 administrative wards of the city. However, the city was hit with a second wave days later with cases starting to increase from February 2021 due to which the plan was put on hold. The idea of food trucks was pushed by state tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray who announced having food trucks across the city to boost tourism. In the 2021-22 budget, BMC reserved ₹200 crore for creating food hubs including beautification of footpaths, beautifying space below flyovers etc.

Meanwhile, the BMC will continue the stay on the distribution of food trucks by corporators in the city. Also, it has not taken a call on taking back the food trucks already distributed by Shiv Sena corporators in Byculla. However, on the other hand, BJP has asked Chahal to seize the food trucks running in the city that were already distributed by the BMC. In a letter to Chahal, BJP corporator Vinod Mishra said, “Around 30 trucks are already distributed in Byculla and other areas by the local corporators. These food trucks should be taken back by the BMC and seized till a formal policy is approved. With the lack of a policy, these food trucks distributed by the BMC using taxpayers’ money are running illegally.”