The financial situation of Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) is likely to worsen in the near future. For several months, the buses services in the city have been helping people, however, reports state that the department has been facing losses. Officials state that BEST was given a grant of INR 2,500 crore and in order to receive further grants from the government, the department will have to share additional information about the spending and the proposed plan.
Further, this can be achieved if the officials decided to provide information on how the grant was utilized to the Standing Committee, stated the Committee Chairman Yashwant Jadhav. Adding more he said that he has also directed to postpone the next phase of the grant till the details are available.
The budget for 2021-22 of the BEST projects was submitted at the standing committee meeting on Wednesday, November 26, 2020, post which the President has given further instructions.
The grants given to the BEST have been used for different purposes so far and therefore, the members of the standing committee demanded that BEST should submit the accounts first. Former Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta had refused to give the grant, while the then commissioner Praveen Pardeshi extended a helping hand by offering the same.
However, addressing the same, Jadhav questioned about the number of times grant can be offered, further adding that the department should focus on becoming self-reliant soon, and not asking for the funds repeatedly.
So far, the grant given by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been used for other works and not for the transport department, and keeping this in mind, it is only wise that the department gives an account of what and where the grant amount was spent so far. This report would be assessed further, basis which, the next grant may or may not be provided, stated Jadhav.
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