Maharashtra: Mahayuti Govt Under Pressure As Contractors Threaten Statewide Shutdown Over ₹96,000 Crore Pending Bills

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Maharashtra State Contractors' Association (MSCA) has warned the BJP-led Mahayuti government that it will stop work on development projects from April 7 if pending payments exceeding ₹96,000 crore are not cleared immediately.

The MSCA is a state-level body representing contractors engaged in development works across departments.

In its letter, the contractor body said, the state government had cleared around ₹20,000 crore last year following protests, but fresh bills from ongoing and completed works have pushed the total pending amount back to ₹96,000 crore.

"In the last over one-and-a-half years, the pending bill amount went up to ₹1.16 lakh crore. Now it is around ₹96,400 crore, which means the state government only paid around ₹20,000 crore. We hoped that in March there would be significant payments towards the pending bills, but it didn't happen," the letter stated.

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It further pointed out, major arrears include ₹29,000 crore under the Public Works Department, ₹35,000 crore under Jal Jeevan Mission and Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran, ₹6,500 crore for rural development and water conservation works, ₹3,800 crore under Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, ₹2,100 crore for urban development special fund works, ₹9,000 crore under the water resources department, and ₹11,000 crore under district development plans.

Pending payments for works executed by local and civic bodies have also affected small contractors, it said.

Later, MSCA president Milind Bhosale said, as reported by PTI,“Contractors would halt work if payments do not begin soon. After March 31, the pending dues have gone up to ₹96,000 crore, which has affected three lakh contractors involved in state government works”

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The state government is grappling with a cash crunch, driven by heavy spending on welfare programmes and weaker-than-expected revenue collections. Fiscal pressure intensified in 2024 when the then Mahayuti administration rolled out a series of pre-election welfare initiatives, including an allocation of ₹36,000 crore for the Ladki Bahin scheme and ₹14,700 crore to provide free electricity to farmers.

Despite borrowings of ₹1.38 lakh crore in the last financial year, the capital expenditure stood at ₹98,000 crore, reflecting stress on the state's fiscal position, officials said.

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