Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday announced the property tax on residential units of up to 500 square feet, located within the Mumbai municipal area limits, will be waived off.
The waiver comes ahead of the Mumbai municipal corporation elections scheduled in February.
The Maharashtra Chief Minister made the announcement in this regard at a meeting of the urban development department earlier in the day.
Thackeray chaired the virtual meeting with Maharashtra Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, Mumbai District Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh, Mumbai Suburban District Guardian Minister Aaditya Thackeray, Mayor Kishori Pednekar and Chief Secretary Debashish Chakrabarty.
According to an official release, the Chief Minister has asked the administration to implement the decision with immediate effect.
The release quoted the Maharashtra Urban Development Minister as saying that the decision will benefit the owners of over 16 lakh houses below 500 square feet in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) limits, PTI reported.
Shinde asserted the Shiv Sena, which rules the BMC, has fulfilled an important assurance it gave prior to the 2017 BMC polls.
The BMC, as per an official, is expected to lose a revenue of Rs 468 crore following the waiver.
The BMC had in 2021-21 estimated property tax collection of Rs 6,738 crore but could mobilise only Rs 4,500 crore in view of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
The civic body of Mumbai has projected the property tax collection of Rs 7,000 crore in 2021-22.
The Shiv Sena retained power in the BMC, winning 84 seats in the 2017 elections. The BJP, on the other hand, bagged 82 seats.