Fund allocation: Ruling corporators get higher share of BMC’s ₹800-cr pool

89 BJP and 29 Shiv Sena corporators from the ruling combine have been allotted ₹2.25 crore each, for ward-level development projects; in contrast, 25 Congress and 65 Shiv Sena (UBT) corporators were allotted ₹25 lakh each

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) standing committee finalised the bifurcation of funds for corporators after setting aside ₹800 crore from the civic body’s budget of ₹80,952 crore for FY2026–27. Debate, however, ensued over the sharp difference in the amount distributed to the ruling and opposition members.

Mumbai…22nd November 2011…News… Bombay Municipal corporation headquarters in Mumbai…HT photo by Hemant Padalkar (Hindustan Times)

Members of the ruling alliance however stated that such a move was in keeping with tradition, established and carried forward by the previous undivided Shiv Sena.

Here is the final distribution: 89 BJP and 29 Shiv Sena corporators from the ruling combine have been allotted ₹2.25 crore each, for ward-level development projects; in contrast, 25 Congress and 65 Shiv Sena (UBT) corporators were allotted ₹25 lakh each.

Among group leaders, Congress’s Ashraf Azmi and Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Kishori Pednekar have been allotted ₹2 crore each, while Amey Ghole from the Shiv Sena has been allotted between ₹5 to ₹10 crore.

AIMIM’s five corporators have each got ₹2 crore.

According to people aware of developments, standing committee chairman Prabhakar Shinde has received ₹25–30 crore, while leader of the house, Ganesh Khankar confirmed that he was allotted ₹20 crore from the budgetary fund.

Defending the allocation, Khankar said the current ruling alliance was following the system adopted by the previous administration and rejected allegations of bias in distribution.

“We are following the undivided Shiv Sena’s book on budgetary fund allocation. The book is the same, only the readers have changed,” Khankar said. He added that the funds would be used for development works across wards and could be diverted to areas that require urgent improvements. Allocations will be adjusted accordingly to ensure maximum utilisation, he added.

Vishakha Raut, veteran corporator from Shiv Sena (UBT), pointed out to a lack of clarity regarding the funds allotted to opposition corporators as she had not read the book that was distributed to corporators.

“It isn’t clear to me how much we have been allotted as we didn’t have the books. All 227 corporators are eligible to get ₹60 lakh each. Apart from ₹60 lakh we have learnt that opposition corporators each have got additional ₹25 lakh,” she said, highlighting confusion over the final allocation and absence of documentation details with her.