Nagpur: At a time when the civic body is set to borrow Rs200 crore to meet rising expenses,
standing committee chairman Virendra Kukreja claimed there is no financial crunch in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (
NMC).
Kukreja said the civic body has received Rs216 crore from the
state government under various heads and it has cleared dues of contractors to the tune of Rs79.10 crore. The office-bearers of the local body have tried their best to increase the NMC revenue in the last several months, he said. According to him, the NMC office-bearers had lobbied at the Mantralaya to release maximum grants for the NMC.
On the contrary, a source from NMC’s accounts and finance department said the NMC presently owes over Rs200 crore to various agencies and contractors. Recently, the Red bus operators had approached chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari seeking their help in getting their outstanding payments of over Rs50 crore released from the civic body.
Kukreja disclosed the NMC has received Rs60 crore from the CM’s special
funds, Rs17 crore for Suresh Bhat Hall, Rs45 crore for 24 x 7 water supply scheme and Rs23.94 crore against stamp duty. The property tax department collected Rs20 crore in the current month itself while Rs50 crore were received from the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) for road works. Thus, the civic body has received Rs216 crore in just a couple of days, the standing panel chief claimed.
Simultaneously, the NMC has paid Rs6.40 crore to petty contractors, Rs16.34 crore to special grant work from chief minister’s fund and Rs10 crore to District Planning Committee (DPC) works. Kukreja said the NMC paid Rs27.28 crore to cement road contractors, Rs14.81crore to other contractors and Rs4.25 crore to the OCW.
NMC Contractors’ Welfare Association president Vijay Nayudu said the collective dues of contractors have crossed over Rs200 crore. Besides, the NMC has also not released over Rs100 crore security deposits deducted from the contractors’ bills, he said.
To a query over bus operators’ anguish for delay in getting their dues, Kukreja said their payment will be cleared within a couple of days. He, however, failed to reply why the NMC is taking a
loan of Rs200 crore when its financial condition is not bad.
THE NUMBER GAME
NMC has received Rs216 crore from state government under various heads
Civic body cleared dues of contractors to the tune of Rs79.10 crore, claims standing panel chief
NMC owes over Rs200 crore to various agencies and contractors
The civic body has also not released over Rs100 crore security deposits deducted from contractors’ bills
NMC has paid Rs6.40 crore to petty contractors, Rs16.34 crore for special grant work from CM’s fund and Rs10 crore to DPC works
Rs27.28 crore paid to cement road contractors, Rs14.81crore to other contractors and Rs4.25 crore to the OCW, says standing panel chief
