Civic body adds Rs 4,000 crore to its kitty

Mumbai: Funds of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the richest civic body in the country, are growing leaps and bounds. In the last four months, BMC’s fixed deposits’ amount in various banks soared by Rs 4,000 crore, which means that on an average, the civic body is growing by a whopping Rs 1,000 crore every month. According to civic officials, the BMC’s investment in fixed deposits was Rs 65,484 crore by July 31 this year.

Civic officials are attributing the rise in funds to various factors. Chief accountant Pradeep Padwal said, “Among the many reasons, interest on fixed deposit amounts is one of the major one. The civic body has selected banks by scrutinising their rate cards and invested in banks, which are giving the highest interest rate. In some of the banks, limited investment has been made to avail special interest rates.”

A senior civic official said, “In July this year, the initial investment in banks was Rs 64,482 crore, of which deposits to the tune of Rs 2,105 crore had matured. After deducting this amount from the investment of Rs 3,108 crore made in July, the net investment in that month comes to Rs 1,002 crore. It leaves total investment at the end of July at Rs 65,484 crore.”

The BMC has made it clear that a majority of these huge fixed deposit amounts are used for city development projects only.  Some of the funds are kept for various purposes including provident fund and pension,  the senior official said.