Overview
- The state cabinet approved implementation of the centrally sponsored Urban Challenge Fund for the 2025-26 to 2030-31 period, mapping a Maharashtra portfolio of about Rs 44,800 crore.
- The proposed financing split for Maharashtra is Rs 11,200 crore from the Centre, Rs 11,200 crore from the state and Rs 22,400 crore to be raised through market instruments such as municipal bonds and PPPs.
- Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the urban department to scale pilot financing used in Nashik and Pune to other cities including Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nagpur.
- Following a wave of approvals, Nashik’s Rs 1,121 crore urban project package won UCF sanction that will supply about Rs 277.9 crore while the rest will come from bonds, PPPs and local shares.
- The state plan fits a larger national UCF framework that targets roughly Rs 90,000–100,000 crore and aims to make cities self-reliant for infrastructure by linking central grants with market mobilisation.