BMC election 2026: How rich is Mumbai’s civic body? Its budget surpasses even some states – Firstpost

The mayor of India’s richest civic body is set to be elected this week. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), along with 28 municipal corporations across Maharashtra, will go to the polls on Thursday (January 15).

Voting will be held across 227 civic wards from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, while votes will be counted on Friday. All eyes are on the elections of the BMC, Mumbai’s civic body.

Let’s take a closer look.

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How rich is BMC?

The BMC, India’s wealthiest civic body, presented a massive budget of Rs 74,427 crore on February 4, 2025, for the Financial Year 2025-26. This was its largest-ever budget, a 14 per cent jump from the previous year’s estimates.

Of this, Rs 43,166 crore was marked for the capital expenditure, which amounts to 58 per cent of the total budget.

₹ BMC has presented its Budget Estimates for the financial year 2025-26.

Here are the key takeaways! 📊#BMCBudget#BMCBudget2025_2026#BMCBudget@CMOMaharashtra@mieknathshinde@AjitPawarSpeaks@ShelarAshish@MPLodha pic.twitter.com/y1NIcg5mDW

— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) February 4, 2025More from Explainers Sarfaraz Khan sends another reminder to selectors by smashing fastest List A fifty by an Indian Higher pay, workplace safety: Why thousands of nurses are on strike across New York City

The Mumbai civic body’s total expenditure estimate trumps the combined budgets of other metro cities like Delhi and Bengaluru.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) proposed a Rs 16,530 crore budget for 2026-27, while Bengaluru’s Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) presented a budget outlay of about Rs 19,930 crore for 2025-26.

Ranchi Municipality’s total budget makes up less than one per cent of the BMC’s budget.

Mumbai’s civic body’s budget was projected to be Rs 59,954.7 crore in the Financial Year 2024-25. The MCD budget was Rs 16,683 crore in FY25, while the BBMP had a budget outlay of Rs 12,369 crore, reported NDTV. 

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Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s budget for FY25 was just Rs 5,166.5 crore.

Mumbai’s civic body has been functioning under an administrator since March 7, 2022, due to the lack of an elected House.

As per News18, the BMC’s Rs 74,427 crore budget is much more than the entire budgets of several Indian states, despite being just a municipal body.

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Goa’s total budget for 2025-26 was Rs 28,162 crore, while Arunachal Pradesh’s budget was Rs 39,842 crore.

Himachal Pradesh’s budget for the period stood at Rs 58,514 crore, whereas Sikkim’s total expenditure was projected to be Rs 16,196 crore.

Tripura’s state expenditure estimate was Rs 31,412 crore.

Where does BMC’s revenue come from?

The BMC, which is considered India’s most resourceful municipal corporation, earns its revenue from myriad sources.

The civic body’s sources of revenue include fees, taxes, development charges and investment income. In FY25, the BMC’s revenue was estimated to be at Rs 81,774 crore.

Fees for several services, licences, and usages comprise the biggest source of the civic body’s revenue.

Between 2016 and 2025, the BMC received Rs 94,600 crore from “Fees and User Charges”, which accounts for registration fee, admission fee, late service license renewal charge, swimming pool reservation charge, demolition charge, advertisement charge, water connection charge, among others.

Grants and subsidies received from state and central governments, taxes, and income on investment and interests on reserves also form a significant part of its annual revenue.

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Mumbai’s civic body earned Rs 86,700 crore from revenue grants and subsidies for different government schemes, as well as for services offered on behalf of other government agencies. The BMC had charged the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) Rs 61.7 crores for cleaning Bandra-Kurla roads in the Financial Year 2023-24.

The civic body received Rs 75,800 crore from taxes, such as street tax, theatre tax, electricity tax, property tax, water tax, and so on, between FY16 and FY25.

Property tax revenue is estimated at Rs 5,200 crore for 2025-26.

For 2024-25, BMC’s revenue income was updated from Rs 35,749.03 crore to Rs 40,693.85 crore. The actual revenue collected until December 31, 2024, was at Rs 28,308.37 crore.

For 2025-26, the Mumbai city administrator is expected to earn Rs 43,159.40 crore, about 20.73 per cent higher than the initial estimate for 2024-25.

How does BMC spend?

The BMC spends most of its budget on infrastructure, including roads, bridges and sewage lines, public health management, education, security, and employee wages and pensions.

In 2024, BMC invested 47 per cent of its revenue in infrastructure in the city. In the past 10 years, the civic body has spent Rs 111,600 crore on Mumbai’s upkeep and upgrade.

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The BMC spent Rs 10,700 crore on grants to hospitals, educational institutes, libraries and contributions to different funds and schemes during this period. While Rs 36,300 crore funds were allotted to the operations and maintenance of public infrastructure.

The civic body spent Rs 8,600 crore on administrative functions like audit, insurance, legal expenses, advertisement and public relations, fuel, travel, freight, and vehicles, etc, NDTV reported, citing official documents.

It also spent generously on public health initiatives. In FY25, the BMC earmarked Rs 99.5 crore to control vector-borne diseases and pesticides, and Rs 12.8 crore for rodent control.

The FY26 budget saw a rise of Rs 7,410 crore in revenue from the previous year, with Rs 43,166 crore, or 58 per cent, kept aside for capital expenditure.

At least 10 per cent of BMC’s budget is dedicated for healthcare services. It also planned to install 100 battery-operated suction machines across its 24 wards, as well as to continue its investment in schools and education infrastructure.

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As per News18, BMC allocated Rs 11,304.59 crore as financial aid to Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) between 2012-13 and January 2025.

For 2025-26, the civic body has proposed a grant of Rs 1,000 crore for BEST. Funds worth Rs 992 crore were sanctioned by the 15th Finance Commission for procuring electric buses, of which Rs 493.38 crore has already been received and disbursed.

In Mumbai, 1,700 candidates are in the fray across 227 wards to gain control of the BMC.

This time, the civic body is expected to exceed its 2017 civic election expenditure of Rs 130 crore by more than 30 per cent. “This is on account of the increased number of polling booths and employees,” a senior BMC official told Hindustan Times (HT).

There are more than 64,375 employees in this poll, compared to just 7,500 in the 2017 civic election. “The budget is no constraint and we have standing instructions from the commissioner to spend wherever needed,” an official noted.

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With inputs from agencies

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