Contractors take Maharashtra Govt to court over ₹89,000 crore in unpaid dues

In a major escalation, contractors across Maharashtra have decided to take legal action against the state government for failing to clear massive outstanding dues amounting to ₹89,000 crore.

The Maharashtra State Contractors Association, in collaboration with the State Engineers Association, announced plans to file petitions in the Bombay High Court's benches at Mumbai, Nagpur, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

The move follows repeated, yet fruitless, appeals for payment.

“While our outstanding payments total ₹89,000 crore, the government has released a mere ₹4,000 crore,” said Milind Bhosle, state president of the contractors' association. The announcement came during a state-level meeting held in Thane on April 17.

According to Bhosle, the dues — pending since July 2024 — are spread across several key government departments:

• ₹46,000 crore from the Public Works Department (PWD)
• ₹18,000 crore from the Jal Jeevan Mission under the Water Supply and Sanitation Department
• ₹8,600 crore from the Rural Development Department
• ₹19,700 crore from the Irrigation Department
• ₹1,700 crore from district-level development works under the DPDC, MLA, and MP funds

Despite halting ongoing infrastructure works in phases across the state as a form of protest, contractors say they have yet to see meaningful relief. “If these bills remain unpaid, no contractor will be able to continue work, and this will inevitably lead to a complete shutdown of developmental projects in Maharashtra,” Bhosle warned.

Contractors had earlier submitted formal warnings to state leaders in February, threatening a work stoppage. Though the PWD Minister Shivendraraje Bhosle had assured that ₹10,000 crore would be released promptly, only ₹1,500 crore came through from the PWD in the previous fiscal. Statewide, the total disbursement remains limited to ₹4,000 crore — just 5 percent of the total dues.

“Despite repeated meetings and assurances from the chief minister and other ministers, we’ve received nothing but empty promises,” said Milind Bhosle. “Not a single minister, including the CM, is willing to directly address this crisis.”

As legal proceedings loom, the fate of Maharashtra's infrastructure development now hangs in the balance.