Will release ₹25 crore to PMC: Maha govt informs HC

MUMBAI, Maharashtra: The Government of Maharashtra informed the Bombay High Court (HC) that they will release ₹25 crores for the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) as an interim measure for the payments of salaries as well for the development works to be done by the civic body.

The state government also informed the court that the submission regarding the issue of compensation of ₹1,000 crore under the Maharashtra Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to Local Authorities) Act, payable since July 2017, will be made in the next hearing.

The court was presiding over a PIL filed by the former corporator Anil Pandurang asking the court to give directions to the state government’s finance and urban development departments to pay the compensation amount along with compensation payable from April 2021 to March 2022. The petitioner told the court that the money has not been released till date, due to which the civic body is facing a shortage of revenue, thus stalling developmental activities.

Earlier the government told the court that they had already released ₹200 crore to the PMC. Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, in line with the instruction of the principal secretary of the finance department, informed the court that the state government will release ₹25 crore to PMC by Tuesday, October 25, as an interim measure.