The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to enter the capital market through Green Bonds to finance major environmentally sustainable infrastructure projects, including sewage treatment facilities and a large desalination plant. The civic body is also preparing a new trench policy aimed at protecting Mumbai’s newly concretised roads from repeated excavation and damage caused by utility works.
Mumbai’s civic administration has appointed India Ratings and Research Pvt Ltd to carry out the mandatory credit rating assessment required before issuing Green Bonds. Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide said preparations are progressing rapidly and the bond issue is likely to be launched by December.
Traditionally, the BMC has funded large infrastructure projects using its own financial resources. Major projects such as the Mumbai Coastal Road and the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road were executed without external borrowing. However, the civic body is now exploring alternative funding mechanisms as spending on large-scale environmental infrastructure continues to rise.
In the 2026-27 municipal budget, former Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani had referred to the Union Government’s incentive scheme encouraging municipal bond issuances. The BMC is now evaluating Green Bonds to partly fund upcoming projects, particularly sewage treatment initiatives estimated to cost over Rs 30,000 crore.
Speaking about the move, Bhide said, “The civic body is implementing several major environment-friendly infrastructure projects, including a 200 million litre desalination plant and the Gargai Dam project. As Green Bonds enable funding for sustainable and environmentally focused infrastructure, the BMC is planning to raise funds through such bonds for these large-scale projects in the coming years.”
Meanwhile, the civic administration is also drafting a fresh trench policy to address damage caused to newly concretised roads due to repeated digging by utility agencies and infrastructure contractors.
Large-scale road concretisation works are currently underway across Mumbai as part of efforts to make roads pothole-free. However, repeated trenching for cable, pipeline and utility works has affected road quality in several areas.
Explaining the proposed policy, Bhide said, “The policy will lay down detailed guidelines on who can undertake trenching, for what purposes, and to what extent such excavation will be permitted. It will also define the responsibilities of the concerned authorities and companies after excavation, along with penalties for damage caused to roads due to trenching activities.”
Source: The Free Press Journal
