Mumbai gets first woman BMC commissioner as Ashwini Bhide replaces Bhushan Gagrani

MUMBAI: The state govt on Tuesday appointed Ashwini Bhide as the city’s Municipal Commissioner. Bhide is the first woman BMC chief since the BMC was set up over 160 years ago.

Bhide who is an IAS officer of the 1995 batch retires in 2030 and could get a full three year tenure as BMC chief.

IAS officer Lokesh Chandra who was Chairman and Managing Director (MD) of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) replaces Bhide as Additional Chief Secretary in the CMO. Bhide will continue to hold additional charge as MD of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC).

DCM Eknath Shinde on Monday night met CM Devendra Fadnavis at Varsha, the CM’s official residence. Shinde’s meeting with CM Fadnavis led to speculation that the pending transfers of senior IAS officers in the state were discussed, especially the next Municipal Commissioner of BMC.

Both CM Fadnavis and DCM Shinde are said to have had different choices for the BMC’s top post but the CM's choice prevailed. Bhide replaces current Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani who retired on Tuesday.

Bhide inherits a massive budget of Rs over 80,000 crore and several high-stakes urban challenges. For now her primary hurdles involve managing critical infrastructure, pre-monsoon readiness, and long-standing civic issues.

However with the BJP now ruling the BMC in alliance with the Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena and the opposition led by Sena (UBT) also having a significant number of Corporators, Bhide will also have to do some political management and balancing act to get projects delivered and policies pushed. Similarly, she will face fiscal management challenges as she will need to manage cash flows carefully, especially as capital expenditure now accounts for around 60% of the total budget.

Bhide is recognized for leading major infrastructure projects, like the Metro Line 3. Bhide, as Additional Municipal Commissioner, played a crucial role in executing Mumbai’s Coastal Road Project. She is known as a tough task master and is said to be close to CM Fadnavis. She is widely recognized as the "Metro Woman of Mumbai" for her leadership in the Metro 3 project.

According to a senior cabinet Minister, apart from Bhide, IAS officers Sanjay Mukherjee, Aseem Gupta and Milind Mhaiskar were in the fray to become the next Municipal Commissioner.

The Mahayuti govt has in the past appointed Rashmi Shukla as the first woman Director General of Police (DGP) serving from January 2024 to January 3, 2026 and Sujata Saunik as first female Chief Secretary in 2024 and retired in June 2025.


Gagrani was appointed as BCM chief March 2024, following a directive from the Election Commission (EC).