Mumbai: The civic standing committee on Thursday approved the proposal for the disbursement of Rs 1,000 crore to the BEST undertaking, which was held back at its earlier meeting on June 12.Committee members had demanded that BEST depute a representative to provide information on its financial condition. Accordingly, a representative was deputed by BEST, following which the proposal was approved.According to the BMC, a total of Rs 12,312 crore has been provided to BEST as financial assistance between 2012-13 and 2025-26. BEST chief accounts officer and financial adviser Prabhakar Sawant submitted a statement on the undertaking’s finances. Standing committee members expressed their displeasure over the BEST general manager not appearing before the committee. Standing committee chairperson Prabhakar Shinde has called for a joint meeting between general manager Sonia Sethi and senior BMC officials at a later date.According to Sawant, 70% of the aid would be utilised for clearing pending employee dues, while the remaining 30% would be used as working capital. Of the Rs 1,000 crore provided to BEST in 2025-26, Rs 606 crore was spent on gratuity and employee benefits, including Rs 112 crore towards pending Covid allowances. Of the Rs 1,000 crore earmarked for 2026-27, Rs 500 crore was disbursed to BEST on June 6. Of this amount, Rs 350 crore has been earmarked for gratuity benefits for retired employees.
