Mumbai, July 14 (IANS) The Maharashtra Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday approved the Asset Monetisation Policy to boost revenue for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

This aims to make ULBs financially self-reliant allowing Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, and Nagar Panchayats to leverage their land and properties to generate new, sustainable revenue streams.

The policy has a primary objective of systematically and transparently developing civic-owned real estate.

Eligible assets include vacant lands, buildings, commercial complexes, markets, and public utility spaces.

At present, Maharashtra features a vast urban governance network comprising 29 Municipal Corporations, 15 “A” Class Municipal Councils, 78 “B” Class Municipal Councils, 146 “C” Class Municipal Councils, and 743 Nagar Panchayats.

All of these bodies stand to benefit from the new framework.

By unlocking the commercial value of underutilised assets, the state aims to achieve two major goals of enhanced financial autonomy and financing public infrastructure.

The policy hopes to reduce the heavy reliance of local bodies on Central and state government financial grants and channeling the newly generated revenue directly into critical civic amenities like water supply, sanitation, roads, healthcare, education, and public transport.

To ensure maximum efficiency and value, the policy permits ULBs to adopt Public-Private Partnership (PPP) frameworks alongside other viable development models.

The state government has mandated that all monetisation processes must be highly competitive, transparent, and aligned with public interest.

The newly approved Asset Monetisation Policy will remain in effect until July 31, 2031, or until a revised framework is introduced by the state government.

This strategic initiative is expected to fundamentally transform urban governance in Maharashtra, providing local bodies with the financial muscle required to accelerate modern infrastructure development.

The Cabinet’s move comes days after the The Sixth Maharashtra Finance Commission (FC), chaired by Nitin Kareer, tabled in the Maharashtra Legislature on Friday has an annual devolution of 27.3 per cent of the State’s Own Tax Revenue (SOTR) to local bodies, marking a strategic shift toward financial decentralisation and structural reform.

The existing 26.3 per cent devolution rate will be increased by an additional one per cent of SOTR.

This combined fund will be split 55 per cent to Urban Local Bodies and 45 per cent to Rural Local Bodies.

Within these allocations, five per cent will be strictly reserved as performance grants and another five per cent for Rural-Urban transition management.

–IANS

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