NMC awaits Rs750cr for infra, Rs147cr GST grant from Maha

Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation is reeling under a severe financial crunch at the end of the 2025-26 financial year as the Maharashtra govt is yet to release the March GST compensation of Rs147.66cr apart from Rs750cr outstanding funds to meet basic infrastructure needs.The March instalment of goods and services tax (GST) compensation is usually released before the 4th of every month. This is not the first instance this year — the state govt also withheld the GST grant for April and May 2025, putting the NMC under severe financial stress then as well.With the latest instalment still pending, the NMC is now struggling to meet routine expenditure such as salaries, pensions, electricity bills and payments to contractors. Officials said the civic body may now have to divert funds meant for development works to cover these essential expenses, which could slow down ongoing projects across the city.After the abolition of octroi, the NMC earlier received a fixed monthly income through the local body tax (LBT) mechanism. However, after the GST implementation, the state govt is required to release compensation to municipal corporations. Officials also suspect that the delay may be linked to financial adjustments being made by the state govt for major welfare schemes. Recently, the state cleared the Feb instalment of ‘Ladki Bahin' scheme, for which Rs277 crore was transferred from the social justice dept to the women and child welfare dept.GST grant to rise from AprilFrom April 2026, the monthly GST grant to the NMC is expected to increase. The current grant stands at Rs147.66 crore, and as per the annual 8% increase formula, the civic body is likely to receive around Rs159 crore per month in the next financial year.Only Rs380cr released for basic amenitiesDuring the 2025-26 financial year, the state govt released only Rs380 crore to the civic body under various heads such as basic amenities, education grants, non-Dalit urban settlement schemes and Ramai housing. Of this, Rs348 crore was released till Jan, while only Rs32crore came after that. In contrast, during the previous election year, the state govt released nearly Rs2,000cr to the NMC.