Mumbai: Contractors working on Maharashtra government projects have claimed payments totalling Rs 89,000 crore have been unpaid over a year, and have sought early release of dues.
Grappling with the dues for so long, they launched a state-wide protest on Friday, which saw 30 district collectors being given an appeal for early clearance of the dues, Milind Bhosale, the president of Maharashtra State Contractor Mahasangh told PTI.
Bhosale said a total of three bodies, comprising the Mahasangh, Builders Association of India and Maharashtra State Engineers Forum, have jointly made the representations.The pending dues pertain to development works like road construction and repairs, building repairs and relief and rehabilitation work carried out for the government, he told PTI, adding that the dues have been pending since last July.
A total of 5 lakh contractors are yet to receive the promised payments even after delivering on the work, Bhosale said, pointing out that the dues range from Rs 1 lakh to up to Rs 20 crore at an individual contractor or entity level.
"This is leading to a lot of stress for all of us. We have not been able to pay our suppliers and employees, which is bound to impact the overall economic growth in the state," Bhosale said. The contractors have been pressing for their dues for many months now, but just 5 per cent of the dues were released before the financial year ended in March.
In FY24, there was a 10-fold increase in the amount of development works which were announced. With elections due in October 2024, this also got followed up with the work orders being released, Bhosale said. "One budget and two supplementary demands have been presented, but our dues continue to be pending," Bhosale said, wondering why the works were ordered at all if there was no financial ability.
Typically, the payments are to be released at the end of every quarter as per the milestones agreed upon in the case of every work that is undertaken but the same has not been adhered to by the state government, he said.
Bhosale said even as the contractors' dues continue to be unpaid, there is other populist expenditure like the one on Ladki Bahin Yojana which continues regularly. In FY26 budget, the state government has allocated Rs 36,000 crore for the scheme.
"Contractors and small enterprises are the second biggest sector in Maharashtra after agriculture. Dozens of people are linked to every entity, and not paying us will have a deep economic impact," he warned.
Bhosale said the associations have met a few ministers like Girish Mahajan, and have mounted efforts to meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for some time without any success.
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