Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday announced a complete waiver of property tax on residential properties measuring up to 500 square feet in Mumbai.
The decision is politically significant and comes in the run-up to the civic polls in Maharashtra, including the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), one of the biggest and richest civic bodies of the country.
Thackeray’s saffron party Shiv Sena had been ruling the BMC for over a quarter of a century.
“The decision will be implemented with immediate effect,” Thackeray said at the meeting of the Urban Development Department.
More than 16 lakh houses in Mumbai are below 500 sq ft.
The meeting was attended any urban development minister Eknath Shinde, ports and textiles minister Aslam Shaikh, who is the guardian minister of Mumbai City district, tourism, environment and protocol minister Aaditya Thackeray, who is the guardian minister of Mumbai Suburban district, Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar, chief secretary Debasish Chakrabarty and municipal commissioner Iabal Singh Chahal.
“Before the 2017 elections to BMC we had made the promise…today we have fulfilled it,” said Thackeray, who is the Shiv Sena president.
Because of the decision, the BMC may lose a revenue of around Rs 450 crore following the waiver.
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