₹80,000 Crore Stuck, No Funds Flowing
• Finance Dept’s Silent Ban on Funds?
• Development Paralyzed, Dues Unpaid
Unmesh Gujarathi
Sprouts News Exclusive
Contact: +91 9322755098
Sprouts News Exclusive
Contact: +91 9322755098
Over ₹80,000 crore in payments for completed development works in Maharashtra remain pending for over nine months. Despite budget allocations, no department has received funds in the current fiscal quarter. Sprouts News Investigation Team (SIT) reveals an undeclared directive blocking fund file approvals, leaving contractors and engineers in financial distress.
Contents
₹80,000 Crore Stuck, No Funds Flowing• Finance Dept’s Silent Ban on Funds?• Development Paralyzed, Dues UnpaidInfrastructure and Public Works Paralyzed Across MaharashtraNinety Days into the New Fiscal Year—No Fund MovementUndeclared Directive: “Don’t Send Fund Files to Finance Department”Also Read: Creamy Postings Over Promotions: 75 Senior Mumbai Police Refuse ACP Roles.Related Article: Maharashtra’s ₹80,000Cr Financial Crisis Stalls Key Projects.Budgeted Schemes Left in LimboAssociations Sound the AlarmSprouts SIT Demands Government Clarification
Infrastructure and Public Works Paralyzed Across Maharashtra
Over ₹80,000 crore worth of payments for completed public infrastructure and development projects in Maharashtra remain unpaid for the last nine months, raising serious concerns among contractors, engineers, and labor cooperatives. These dues span across civil works, road repairs, maintenance projects, and rural development initiatives executed by multiple government departments.
In March 2025, only 3% of the required payments were released, despite the Budget Session of the Maharashtra Government allocating substantial funds for each department. Despite this formal allocation, actual disbursement has come to a complete standstill.
Ninety Days into the New Fiscal Year—No Fund Movement
As of June 20, 2025, nearly 90 days have passed since the start of the new financial year, yet not a single department has received fresh funds from the State Treasury for Q1 (first quarter).
Senior representatives of contractors’ associations had met the Public Works Minister and the Chief Minister in February and March 2025. They were assured that funds would be made available in April itself. However, with two full months of the new fiscal year now gone, no trace of fund release is visible, and stakeholders are facing growing uncertainty.
Undeclared Directive: “Don’t Send Fund Files to Finance Department”
In a shocking revelation by the Sprouts News Investigation Team (SIT), it has come to light that departments have been unofficially instructed not to forward any fund-related files to the Finance Department for approval.
When fund inquiries are made by contractors or engineers, departmental officials claim, “We have not received any file from the Finance Department,” and redirect questions to the Finance Minister or Chief Minister’s Office. This opaque mechanism and breakdown in communication are causing a state-wide financial logjam.
Even internal meetings indicate that Finance Department officers are silent, creating an atmosphere akin to a bureaucratic blackout.
Also Read: Creamy Postings Over Promotions: 75 Senior Mumbai Police Refuse ACP Roles.
Related Article: Maharashtra’s ₹80,000Cr Financial Crisis Stalls Key Projects.
Budgeted Schemes Left in Limbo
Multiple budget heads are affected by this unexplained freeze. These include:
•DPDC Fund (District Planning Committees)
•MLA Fund & Special Constituency Grants (4217)
•Deposit Contribution Works Fund
•CESS Fund for Rural Development (2515)
•Public Works Maintenance Funds (2059, 2216)
•Road Repair & Pothole Funds (3054, 5054)
Each of these sectors has hundreds of crores worth of completed work awaiting payment, yet there is no clarity on when the funds will be released.
Contractors are now caught in a financial vice due to this undeclared financial embargo by the Finance Department, leaving workers, engineers, and suppliers in crisis.
Associations Sound the Alarm
In a strongly worded joint statement issued to the press, leaders of the Maharashtra State Contractors Federation and the State Engineers’ Union have publicly expressed their outrage. Signatories include:
•Engg. Milind Bhosale (State President)
•Sunil Nagarale (General Secretary)
•Sanjay Maind (Working President)
•Rajesh Asegaonkar, Kaushik Deshmukh, Anil Patil, Narendra Bhosale, and many other district and division-level office-bearers.
They collectively demand immediate transparency from the Finance Department and a timeline for disbursing the pending ₹80,000 crore in dues.
Sprouts SIT Demands Government Clarification
The Sprouts News Investigation Team (SIT) urges the Maharashtra Government and Finance Department to respond on the following:
1.Is there a policy freeze on fund disbursement? If yes, why hasn’t it been publicly declared?
2.What is the current status of the fund distribution files?
3.Why have departments been unofficially barred from sending files to the Finance Department?
4.When will the ₹80,000 crore backlog be cleared?
5.How are essential public works to continue amid this cash freeze?
This unofficial blockade of funds is not only stalling development but also eroding public trust in the financial governance of the state.
