Mumbai, Feb 4 : For the first time, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will spend a whopping 52 per cent of its 2023-2024 budget on capital expenditure for various infrastructure and other civic projects, which is higher than its revenue expenditure. Compared to the estimated revenue expenditure of Rs 25,305.94 crore, the civic body proposes to spend Rs 27,247.80 crore on various developmental and other projects - which will be 48 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively, said BMC Commissioner I.S. Chahal. For the ambitious Mumbai Coastal Road Project (South), 69 per cent of the work is done, one of the twin tunnels of the 2 km underground from Girgaum Chowpatty to Priyadarshini Park has been completed, and 90 per cent (1,875 meres) has also been completed. Chahal said that the MCRP will be fully completed during FY 2023-2024, besides developing 70 hectares of reclaimed area as a green belt and constructing an underground parking zone, for which an amount of Rs 3,545 crore has been earmarked in the BMC budget presented on Saturday. Under the recent directions of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the work of concreting 397 km of roads in the city has been taken up to make them pothole-free and ensure safe ride for the citizens. The first phase of the upcoming Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project, of which 70 per cent of the road overbridge at Nahur is ready, will be completed in December 2023, for which a provision of Rs 1,060 crore has been made. In the second phase, 65 per cent of road widening in Goregaon E and Mulund E is done and the rest will be completed by May 2023. The third phase of GMLR comprises two major flyovers and an elevated rotary on which 7 per cent work is done, tendering has been done for a box tunnel and twin tunnel in Goregaon E, and in the fourth phase, tenders will be issued for starting tunnel excavation works. During 2023-2024, six big and small bridges are coming up in different parts of Mumbai, and five more over the next 2-3 years, said Chahal, with a budgetary allocation of Rs 2,100 crore. These include bridges at Telli Gully in Andheri, Mrinal Gore Flyover to Ram Mandir Road, flyovers over Vidyavihar and Vikhroli stations on Central Railway, rail bridge at Delisle Road, flyover at Mith Chowky Junction in Malad West, and the Gokhale Bridge approach road in Andheri, all scheduled in 2023. In 2024, the BMC will complete the Kora Kendra bridge's ongoing works in Borivali and a bridge at Mahalaxmi station; in 2025, it will reconstruct and widen the Mithi River bridge at Mahim causeway, build a bridge and pedestrian underpass near the Nehru Science Centre in Worli and make improvements to the elevated service roads of Bhakti Park Complex to Jijamata Chowk in Wadala. Tenders have also been issued for the much-needed elevated road from Dahisar West to Bhayander (Thane), and from Dadar Fishermen Colony to Western Express Highway. Other major heads of outlay will be on primary education (Rs 3,347.13 crore), sewerage treatment project (Rs 2,792 crore), provision for improvement of roads (Rs 2,825.06 crore), sewage waste department (Rs 2,570.65 crore), including widening/training of Mithi River and other river/nalla systems in the BMC Phase II and III (Rs 654.44 crore), rejuvenation of rivers (Rs 582.31 crore), construction of Mogra, Mahul pumping station (Rs 200 crore), SWM and SWM projects (Rs 366.50 crore), Ashray Yojana (Rs 1,125 crore), modernisation and upgradation of Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden & Zoo (Rs 133.93 crore), and upgrading the Deonar Abbattoir (Rs 13.69 crore). For the first time in its 134-year history, the 2023-2024 budget for the country's richest civic body surpassed a staggering Rs 50,000 crore - higher than the annual budgets of many smaller states in India. The budget estimates for the new fiscal are proposed at Rs 52,619.07 crore, an increase of 14.52 per cent over last year's Rs 45,949.21 crore (2022-2023), and the previous year's Rs 39,083 crore (2021-2022). The budget estimates presented by Chahal came ahead of the civic elections which are likely to be announced soon, and promised a sustainable local economic development for the country's commercial capital. (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in) /IANS