BMC budget vs states: How Mumbai’s civic body outspends Goa, Himachal? How it earns and spends?
Mumbai's BMC election is a high-stakes battle, with results shaping Maharashtra's political landscape ahead of Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. India's wealthiest civic body, with a massive Rs 74,427 crore budget, exerts significant influence over city contracts and infrastructure. This first civic verdict in nine years will truly be a broader test of state power dynamics.
New Delhi: Results of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election will be out soon, marking the city’s first civic body poll verdict in almost nine years.
The BMC handles everyday civic work of Mumbai but wields power over one of India’s largest public budgets. For 2025–26, the civic body has proposed an outlay of Rs 74,427 crore. Interestingly, this amount rivals, and in some cases surpasses, the budgets of several smaller Indian states. No wonder the BMC polls is considered a high-stakes battle.
The outcome of the poll has a far-reaching impact. The results will not only decide which alliance rules Mumbai, but also will shape the political landscape of the entire state. The election results will also set the tone for Maharashtra politics ahead of Assembly and Lok Sabha battles.
The political alliance which emerges as the winner will control the BMC and have its sway major contracts, infrastructure decisions, and the local networks that political parties depend on across the state. Therefore, the outcome is widely seen as a broader test of Maharashtra’s political balance of power, rather than merely a civic win or loss.
BMC is India's wealthiest civic body
For 2025–26, the budget of BMC is Rs 74,427 crore. This is the highest-ever outlay. Almost 60 percent of this, about Rs 43,162 crore, is allotted for capital expenditure. The bulk of the money is meant for long-term projects rather than day-to-day expenditures.
BMC budget larger than that of some Indian states
The size of the BMC’s budget is bigger when compared with the budgets of some states. Goa has earmarked an expenditure of Rs 28,162 crore in 2025–26, Arunachal Pradesh Rs 39,842 crore, Himachal Pradesh Rs 58,514 crore, Sikkim Rs 16,196 crore, and Tripura Rs 31,412 crore. BMC is set to spend more than each of these states.
If you compare it with Delhi and Bengaluru civic bodies, the gap is more wide. Delhi’s Municipal Corporation functions on around Rs 16,500 crore, while Bengaluru’s BBMP operates on about Rs 19,900 crore.
How BMC generates its income
The BMC’s income does not essentially come from property tax. Its revenue is drawn from a mix of state transfers, fees, premiums, and investment income. This structure has become more significant after GST.
In the pre-GST era, Mumbai collected octroi at city entry points. Following the scrapping of octroi, the Maharashtra government started compensating the BMC for lost revenue. The compensation for FY 2025–26 is estimated to be Rs 14,000–15,000 crore. This means a large share of Mumbai’s civic money now passes through the state government, linking city funds to state politics.
BMC also earns a major part of its income from property tax. For 2025–26, the estimated income for BMC from property tax has been pegged around Rs 5,200 crore.
Fees linked to development permissions, FSI premiums, and planning charges have also emerged as a major source of income for the Mumbai civic body. In recent years, these non-tax revenues have been estimated at almost Rs 6,000 crore and remain a key part in BMC’s finances.
For FY 2025–26, revenue from advertising and licence fees is estimated to run into the hundreds of crores, with advertising income alone likely to exceed Rs 300 crore.
Over a span of many years, the BMC parked sizeable surpluses in fixed deposits and earned consistent interest. However, since 2022, these deposits have come down significantly, as more money is pumped into infrastructure works.
Where is the money being spent?
The biggest spending component is capital expenditure amounting to Rs 43,162 crore. This includes investments in roads and concretisation, stormwater drains, sewage networks, bridges, flyovers, and coastal protection projects.
The most important allocations include Rs 5,545 crore for the Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project, Rs 4,000 crore for Phase 2 of the Versova–Dahisar coastal road, Rs 3,111 crore for road concretisation across the city, Rs 1,958 crore for the Goregaon–Mulund Link Road tunnel, and Rs 1,516 crore for the completion and maintenance of the south Mumbai coastal road.
The day-to-day functioning of the city is covered by revenue expenditure. This includes solid waste management, water supply, primary education, sanitation, public hospitals, and staff salaries and pensions.
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) also gets support from the BMC, with Rs 1,000 crore earmarked for the undertaking for 2025–26.