Rs40,000 Crore Bills Unpaid by Cash-strapped Maharashtra Govt, Contractors' To Protest on Tuesday: ToI

Moneylife Digital Team 07 October 2024

Economy & Nation

Claiming that payment of bills to the tune of around Rs40,000 crore is pending across various state government departments, contractors from all over the state have announced a day-long protest outside offices of collectors of all 36 districts of the state on Tuesday, says a report from Times of India (ToI)

In a letter, Maharashtra State Contractors Association and State Engineers Association stated that the state government has not cleared pending contractors' bills and must not award fresh contracts unless there is enough budgetary provision. The bodies sent the letter to state chief minister (CM) Eknath Shinde and deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.

Quoting from the letter, the report says, "Pending bills of around Rs40,000 crore for development works done by contractors of all departments should be made immediately. Works should not be sanctioned unless there is 100% provision. Works must be awarded in a 33:33:34 ratio as per the government resolution to educated unemployed engineers, labour organisations, and open contractors. Works of the rural devpt dept should be awarded as per a 40:26:34 ratio as per the government resolution. There should be no amalgamation of small works in the state, and big tenders should not be awarded illegally. The Act for protection for contractors should be approved while doing govt work."

Nilesh Bhonsale, president of Maharashtra State Contractors Association, told the newspaper that for the past two and a half years, many new works have been awarded by various departments without any estimation of financial aspects. "Payment for the work done is not received for years. We will hold a one-day symbolic protest on 8th October and then decide on the future course of action."

According to ToI, Maharashtra has already come under criticism for massive pre-election sops costing Rs96,000 crore, which were announced in the Budget, including the Ladki Bahin scheme. "The expenditure in the Ladki Bahin scheme itself is slated to be Rs46,000 crore per year. The state is also on a spree of clearing land allotments, subsidies, and guarantees in the run-up to polls. The state finance department has already warned that the government's fiscal deficit could be as high as Rs2 lakh crore for FY24-25. The department has warned that the fiscal deficit has breached the limit set by the state Act for this purpose," the report says.

Last week, when the state Cabinet cleared financial aid to major infrastructure projects like the Thane-Borivali tunnel and the Orange Gate-Marine Drive tunnel, it overruled serious concerns raised by the finance dept about the state's precarious financial condition, the newspaper says, adding, "The finance dept said the state could not take on an extra liability as its fiscal deficit had doubled."

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