Maharashtra civic bodies to mobilise funds for smart city projects

Ten municipal corporations in Maharashtra, which submitted 'smart city' proposals to the Centre on Tuesday, have unanimously opposed tax increase or the imposition of new taxes to finance various projects.

Instead, these civic bodies have proposed to raise necessary funds through increase in floor space index, exploitation of land, etc. They have also signalled they are against the dilution of powers of the general body or the municipal corporation in general and argued the role of private sector should not be bigger.

The 10 cities are Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Amravati, Solapur, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad.

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), controlled by the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party, had sent a proposal of Rs 1,018 crore, of which Rs 703 crore is allotted for capital expenditure.

The Nagpur civic body, where chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was elected as the city Mayor twice in the past, has submitted the Rs 3,400-crore plan and Rs 2,900 crore plan by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress controlled Pune Municipal Corporation.

The Navi Mumbai civic body, where the ruling NCP had strongly opposed the smart city project citing dilution of its power, has sent an ambitious plan of Rs 8,000 crore with an objective to project Navi Mumbai as one of the first planned cities of the country.

The Shiv Sena-controlled Thane civic body has submitted a Rs 6,630 crore plan, which focuses on smart parking, water front development, renovation of gardens and stadiums, and improvement in the sewerage network. The Amravati civic body has sent a proposal of Rs 5,000 crore for making city the favoured destination for agro-based industries and textile.

State urban development secretary Manisha Mhaiskar told Business Standard: "Civic bodies plan to raise funds through additional FSI (floor space index), exploitation of land and bilateral and multilateral institutions including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and KfW." BMC official said the civic body could earn money by charging premium on extra FSI.

However, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation mayor Sudhakar Sonawane and Nashik mayor Ashok Murtadak reiterated their opposition to the tax increase. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said his party has offered a conditional support, especially for the BMC's smart city plan.

He informed the party has submitted 18 amendments including the civic body to have a final say in the selection of area to be developed under the smart city project and mayor to head the proposed special purpose vehicle (SPV).

Besides, the entire plan to be implemented by the civic body and there should not be any equity by the private sector in the SPV.