BMC Budget Swells: Health, Education, Drainage Lose Ground Amid Capex Push

• BMC's budget has more than doubled in four years, from Rs 35,962 crore in FY22 to Rs 74,367 crore in FY26, driven by capital expenditure.
• Despite absolute increases, the share of health, storm water drainage, and primary education in the overall budget has diminished.
• Health spending's share dropped from nearly 15% in FY22 to under 10% in FY26, indicating a relative deprioritization.
• Storm water drainage's share fell from 5.7% to just over 4%, suggesting flood mitigation efforts haven't kept pace with overall spending growth.
• Primary education's budgetary weight sharply declined from 8.25% to 5.32%, highlighting a deprioritization of municipal schooling.

Why It Matters: BMC's budget growth prioritizes capital expenditure, leading to a relative decline in funding for essential social services.