Mumbai: The Rs 80,952.56 crore civic budget presented by the municipal administration in Feb was cleared by the standing committee on Monday, with a reallocation of Rs 800 crore towards a development fund.The fund will be utilised for development works as well as key infrastructure projects across the city. The budget, originally tabled on Feb 25, was approved after several days of deliberations.The final allocation of this fund will be decided by the ruling BJP and standing committee chairman Prabhakar Shinde, with details yet to be disclosed. The budget is now set to be placed before the general body on April 9 for final approval.The civic administration sets aside a development fund for the standing committee prior to budget approval. While this allocation has typically ranged between Rs 500 crore and Rs 600 crore in previous years, it has been increased to Rs 800 crore this year.Shinde said each of Mumbai’s 227 corporators will receive Rs 1 crore for local development works. This accounts for Rs 227 crore, leaving a balance of Rs 463 crore. Of this, an estimated Rs 100 crore to Rs 150 crore is likely to be reserved at the mayor’s discretion, with the remaining approximately Rs 313 crore to be distributed by the standing committee among various political parties.Funds will be allocated based on requests submitted by corporators. However, opposition parties are expected to receive a smaller share this year.The municipal commissioner had presented a total outlay of Rs 80,952.56 crore, of which Rs 41,390 crore has been earmarked for capital expenditure.
