Mumbai, March 13 The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) fixed deposits (FDs) currently stand at over Rs 81,000 crore, Maharashtra Minister Uday Samant told the Legislative Council on Friday, and assured that savings earmarked as a Pension Fund would not be touched.
Samant said that the BMC, which held elections in January after a nearly four-year delay, had FDs of Rs 62,191 crore in March 2017.
He was responding to a motion brought by the Opposition, which attacked the Mahayuti government over the functioning of India's largest civic body when it was managed by a state-appointed administrator from 2022 to 2026, until elections were held two months ago.
Samant, a Shiv Sena Cabinet member who handles Industries and Marathi language portfolios, has been designated by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the Urban Development Department, to respond to questions pertaining to the UDD.
The BMC's FDs rose to Rs 72,000 crore in 2018, Rs 76,579 crore in 2019, Rs 79,115 crore in 2020, and Rs 78,745 crore in 2021. In 2022, the figure significantly increased to Rs 91,990 crore, Samant told the Upper House.
He said that those who previously controlled the civic body were not interested in carrying out any infrastructure work when in power and were instead focused on distributing "khichdi" and building makeshift hospitals, a reference to the Shiv Sena (UBT) in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
"That (2022) was during the period of the coronavirus. There was no interest in starting (infrastructure) work," Samant maintained.
The undivided Shiv Sena, led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, controlled the BMC from 1997 to 2022. In the past, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has claimed that when the BMC was under an administrator, it utilized its FDs to fund infrastructure projects and alleged irregularities in the process.
Samant said that in 2023, the BMC's savings dipped to Rs 86,401 crore, Rs 82,737 crore in 2024, and Rs 79,498 crore in 2025. The civic body's FDs now stand at Rs 81,134 crore.
"There is no question of (BMC) employees facing injustice or them not receiving salaries or pensions. The Pension Fund will remain untouched by the BMC," he assured the House.
The Future Sustenance Fund amounting to Rs 5,853 crore and Pension Fund of Rs 3,949 crore will remain untouched, said the minister.
Shiv Sena (UBT) members alleged that by using up the FDs, the BMC has put the Pension Fund in danger.