Contractors working with the Maharashtra government have dues totaling Rs 89,000 crores pending with various departments. Various associations claimed on Monday that the Devendra Fadnavis-led administration had not cleared payments since Ladki Bahin and other pre-poll schemes were rolled out in July last year. The contractor associations have indicated plans to approach the Bombay High Court after sending a final letter to the Chief Minister on Monday.
“₹89,000 crore is pending. The delay in payment is not new, but things worsened after July 2024 when the Ladki Bahin and other pre-poll schemes were launched. Before that, the payment pending used to be around 40%; it was difficult, but still manageable. Now, it’s down to barely 10%,” Milind Bhosle — the President of the Maharashtra State Contractors Association — told CNBC-TV18.
Members of the Maharashtra State Contractors Association and the State Engineers Association had held a state-level meeting on Friday and decided to drag the government to court.
Bhosle told the Indian Express on Sunday that the pending amount included a whopping Rs 46,000 crore from the state Public Works Department and Rs 18,000 crore from the Jal Jeevan Mission under Water Supply and Sanitation department. Contractors were also owed Rs Rs 8,600 crore from the Rural Development department, Rs 19,700 crore from the Irrigation department and Rs 1,700 crore for works done under DPDC, MLA fund and MP fund.
Protests have been underway since February this year — when both associations initiated a pause on all ongoing infrastructural work. They had also written a letter to top leaders in the state to highlight the situation. The contractor groups however allege that they are yet to be paid despite halting work in a phased manner across the state.