Pune: State govt on Wednesday assured contractors it would release Rs 5,000 crore for road repairs and pothole filling, and Rs 700 crore for pending bills for govt building repairs, before Diwali. The assurances came after days of a phone-in agitation by contractors over delayed payments and mounting dues.The assurances came during separate meetings on Wednesday between representatives of the Maharashtra State Contractors Federation, State Engineers Association and Maharashtra State Water Supply Contractors Association and public works minister Shivendrasinhraje Bhosale, tribal development minister Ashok Uike and water supply minister Gulabrao Patil.During the phone-in agitation, contractors had repeatedly called govt offices to draw attention to their pending bills and other grievances. The associations subsequently secured meetings with the ministers to press for their demands.At a meeting at Mantralaya, Bhosale said Rs 9,700 crore had been earmarked for road repairs and pothole filling across the state, of which Rs 5,000 crore had been released.“The process of releasing the remaining amount is being initiated,” Bhosale said during the meeting.The meeting also discussed pending payments for govt building repairs. “The public works department requires around Rs 1,300 crore to clear pending bills for govt building repairs. Of this, Rs 700 crore will be released before Diwali,” the minister assured the delegation.The meeting also addressed several long-standing demands of contractors.The govt is considering setting up a committee to examine cases of suicides among contractors, with representatives of the associations included in it. It also assured the delegation that the State Schedule of Rates (SSR), which has not been published since 2022-23, would be released by Nov 30. The schedule forms the basis for preparing estimates for govt works.Another key assurance was that the govt would revert to the earlier practice of not deducting 18% GST from contractors’ bills. The finance department would be informed about the decision. The govt also agreed to review the scope and length of incomplete works to account for the increase in market prices.Regarding the allocation of smaller contracts, works costing up to Rs 10 lakh and those between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore will be distributed equally among categories, as stipulated in the 2004 govt resolution, with a 33% share reserved for educated unemployed engineers. They will also be exempted from machinery-related requirements and other additional conditions in open tenders under the 2018 resolution, the associations said.The govt further agreed to extend the registration of open-category contractors until 2029 on payment of the prescribed fee, without insisting on mandatory documents. A ‘Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Best Contractor’ award will also be instituted from 2026-27.At a meeting with tribal development minister Ashok Uike at his Mumbai residence, the delegation was assured that Rs 560 crore would be released before Diwali to clear the department’s pending contractor bills. Some of these payments have reportedly been outstanding for nearly a year.The delegation also raised concerns over delayed payments under the Jal Jeevan Mission with water supply minister Gulabrao Patil, in the presence of department secretary Parag Jain.Patil said, “A proposal for Rs 760 crore has received approval. The funds would be made available in phases, both before and after Diwali.”He said water supply schemes implemented through contractors were providing water to around 25,000 villages across the state and urged the association to highlight the outcomes of these projects. He also called on contractors and educated unemployed engineers to complete their assigned works and cooperate with the govt.The delegation was led by Maharashtra State Contractors Federation president Milind Bhosale, along with office-bearers of the three associations.
