Readying homes, offices for winter session: Maintenance dues at ₹150 crore

Subodh Sarode, president of the Nagpur Contractors Association, said that contractors have not received any payments since April this year

Mumbai: The state government has started sprucing up residences and offices of ministers, legislators and administrative officers in Nagpur ahead of the winter session of the state legislature scheduled there in December. While the estimated cost of these repairs is ₹90 crore, contractors are miffed as bills worth more than ₹150 crore towards maintenance and repair work carried out before last year’s winter session and in subsequent months are still pending.

Readying homes, offices for winter session: Maintenance dues at ₹150 crore

Subodh Sarode, president of the Nagpur Contractors Association, said that contractors have not received any payments since April this year.

“The pending payments are for two categories – ₹71 crore towards maintenance and repair work done before the December 2024 winter session, and ₹80 crore towards maintenance repair work done in 2025. So the total amount of pending bills is ₹150 crore,” Sarode said.

Since the winter session of the state legislature is held in Nagpur in December every year, various ministers, administrative officers and legislators stay in the city for two-three weeks, and the state government undertakes regular repair and maintenance of their residences and offices.

Last week, the contractors engaged for maintenance work ahead of the upcoming winter session observed ‘stop work’ for a few days to press for the pending payments. Government officials in Nagpur then showed them some documents containing requests for funds for paying the pending bills and assured them that the requests would be approved soon.

“After our ‘stop work’ protest last week, government officials assured us that the bills would be released this week. But it’s Friday already and we have not received any payment,” Sarode said.

Officials from the public works department said the government had already started the process of approving funds to clear the pending bills and they would be processed soon.

The government had put payments on hold in light of the inquiry into irregularities in renovation of ministers’ bungalows in Mumbai, the officials said.

“But now, as the report has been submitted to the government, the process of clearing pending bills of contractors in Nagpur has started,” said an official.