Mumbai News: On 'Less Funds to Mumbai', Sitharaman Explains 'Division Formula'; Asks if Aurangabad, Nanded Don't Deserve Anything

BMC commissioner and administrator I S Chahal on Saturday said the budgetary estimates for FY 2023-24 have crossed the Rs 50,000 crore mark and the capital expenditure is more than 50 per cent, both unprecedented in the history of the country’s richest civic body.

The BMC has presented Rs 52,619.07 crore budget for the year 2023-24. This is for the first time after 1985 that the Mumbai civic administration presented the budget to an administrator as the five-year term of corporators ended last year. (PTI)

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday wrote a letter to the Centre seeking a grant of Rs 927 crore to take up special development work for the G20 summit in the national capital. In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Sisodia said it will not be easy for the Delhi government to spend an extra Rs 927 crore from its limited resources for the G20 summit preparations.

Blood stains have been found on a floating tube seized from the residence of a lifeguard accused of killing 22-year-old MBBS student Sadichha Sane. Sane, a third-year MBBS student, had gone missing in November 2021 and lifeguard Mittu Singh was held last month along with one more person. As per police, Sane died after falling on the rocks at Bandra Bandstand during a tussle with Singh, who then took a floating tube and dragged her body into the sea before returning.

A 28-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly operating a fake call centre to cheat citizens of India and the United States of America on the pretext of providing help in foreign exchange, currency and commodity trading matters. The man, who was operating the fake call centre from the northern suburb of Malad, was held on Thursday, while two of his associates are on the run, PTI reported.

Women, who reached for the recruitment of Women Fire Brigade, clashed with police in Mumbai. “3318 women candidates, who were qualified as per height criteria were chosen for further selection process. Protesting women are those who came late. We can’t allow people who reached around 10 am when time was 8 am,” said the Chief Officer, Mumbai Fire Brigade, according to ANI.

“Growth is the main focus. We want to sustain that recovery, sustain that growth,” Sitharaman said on Saturday, speaking on the Union Budget FY 2023-24. She thanked the budget-making team for making it possible to devote such a high quantum of resources for the task amid the myriad challenges like the need for fiscal consolidation.  “Mumbai should be liking it (the proposals),” Sitharaman said.

I had said that in terms of our Macroeconomic numbers, the issue (Adani enterprises issue) is like a storm in a teacup and I still stand by that statement: Finance Secretary TV Somanathan at post-budget press conference.

India’s richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), presented its Budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 on Saturday, crossing the Rs 50,000 crore mark for the first time. READ MORE

Speaking at a post-budget press conference in Mumbai on Saturday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was asked about lower funds to Mumbai in the Union Budget to which she replied, “Who decides what Mumbai will get?…What about Aurangabad, Nanded, Akola, should they not get anything?” The Finance Minister added that there is a constitutionally determined body, which meets once in five years. “The finance commission decides where how much devolution will happen. According to that formula we divide funds among states,” she said.

The national capital on Saturday recorded a minimum temperature of 9 degrees Celsius, a notch above season’s average, the India Meteorological Department said. Meanwhile, the air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 233 at 9 am, which is in the poor category.

A housekeeping worker, formerly a security guard, with a salary of 10,000 a month, received a taxman’s notice asking to explain a transaction of Rs 1.14 crore from China in which his PAN card and bank account were used, reported Times of India. When he visited the Income Tax office, he was told that the PAN card could have been misused. The man plans to visit Bazarpeth police station to lodge a complaint.

• Maths and Science centres to be set up in 88 primary schools.
• To create interactive classrooms, ‘talking walls’ being set up in 245 primary schools with paintings and art based on class-wise curriculum content.
• Leadership training to 120 civic school principals in association with the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management.
• Selected secondary schools to get skill development training under NEP 2020.
• Digital classroom project announced, similar to ‘Virtual Classroom’ initiative last year, which was backed by Aaditya Thackeray and scrapped in middle of the year.

The BMC has earmarked Rs 250 crore for various social impact initiatives in FY 2023-24. The fund has been allocated under various headers which include financial schemes for women, the differently-abled, transpersons, senior citizens and a women’s training scheme.

“For the first time in history of BMC, capital expenditure is more than revenue,” civic body chief Chahal said in his speech.

The BMC has earmarked Rs 27,247 crore for spending on public infrastructure like roads, storm water drains and water projects.