Mumbai Marathon: BMC allows ad display after organiser shells

After the organiser of Mumbai Marathon made a payment of Rs 23 lakh, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) today permitted Procam International to display advertisments during the event.
Earlier, on Friday, the civic body had asked the organiser to pay Rs 5.48 crore in lieu of advertisement fee, ground rent and security deposit. The 14th edition of Mumbai Marathon will take place tomorrow.
A senior ward official, said, "We had issued a letter to Procam International, to pay Rs 5.48 crores as advertisement fees, ground rent and security deposit. But, the organiser today approached us and paid Rs 23 lakh as initial amount and promised to settle the remaining sum after the event. We have accepted this offer and allowed it to display advertisement during the event."

The coordinator of the organising firm, Arvind Reddy submitted the plea to assistant municipal commissioner stating that the issue would be sorted out after the event is over.
Clarifying the reason to ask deposit of Rs 5.48 crore, the BMC official said it was necessary as organiser had "turned" this event into a "commercial" one.
"For last 13 years, civic body charged only nominal fees from them as we considered it was a social cause event. However, this year we found that the organiser has installed big banners and hoardings for advertisements, and therefore, we decided to charge them at par with commercial rates for the event," said the official.