Maharashtra Contractors Headed to Bombay High Court Over Rs 89,000 Crore in Unpaid Infrastructure Bills

In a major escalation of a months-long standoff, Maharashtra’s contractors have decided to approach the Bombay High Court to seek legal intervention over the non-payment of long-pending dues amounting to a staggering ₹89,000 crore for infrastructure projects executed across the state.

The move comes after repeated appeals to the state government failed to yield results, leaving contractors struggling under severe financial strain.

The Maharashtra State Contractors Association, along with the State Engineers Association, announced their decision to initiate legal action following a state-level meeting held in Thane on Friday.

The associations plan to file petitions before various benches of the Bombay High Court — including Mumbai, Nagpur, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar — in an attempt to recover their unpaid bills.

Speaking to the media, Miling Bhosle, the president of the Maharashtra State Contractors Association, expressed deep frustration over the state government’s inaction.

“While our total outstanding payment from the state government has now reached ₹89,000 crore, the administration has released a meager ₹4,000 crore, which is not even a fraction of what is due to us. The situation has become untenable for most contractors,” Bhosle said.

Contractors and engineers have been raising the alarm over delayed payments for months, demanding that the state release their pending dues.

In February, the contractors had even issued a formal warning to the government, threatening to halt all ongoing infrastructure and development works across Maharashtra if payments were not cleared promptly.

Despite this warning and a phased slowdown in project execution over the past few months, the promised payments remain elusive.

The massive ₹89,000 crore backlog is spread across several key government departments, each responsible for a portion of the overdue bills. According to figures shared by the contractors’ association:

• ₹46,000 crore is owed by the Public Works Department (PWD),
• ₹18,000 crore is pending under the Jal Jeevan Mission managed by the Water Supply and Sanitation Department,
• ₹8,600 crore is outstanding from the Rural Development Department,
• ₹19,700 crore is due from the Irrigation Department,
• ₹1,700 crore is pending for works completed under the District Planning and Development Council (DPDC), the MLA fund, and the MP fund.

Bhosle said the token release of ₹4,000 crore in March was woefully inadequate, covering only about 5% of the total dues, and leaving contractors unable to pay laborers, suppliers, and manage ongoing work.

“If the payments continue to be delayed, contractors will not have the financial ability to execute any further projects, which will ultimately bring development activities to a complete standstill across the state,” he warned.

Adding to their frustration is what the contractors describe as the state government’s silence and apparent unwillingness to engage in meaningful dialogue.

“Despite numerous letters and requests for meetings, no senior minister, not even the chief minister, has shown any real willingness to address our concerns. All we’ve received are verbal assurances and no concrete actions,” Bhosle added.

Earlier this year, during the contractors’ week-long strike, State PWD Minister Shivendraraje Bhosle had acknowledged the severity of the issue, stating that he had recommended the immediate release of ₹10,000 crore to provide partial relief to the contractors.

He had even claimed to have held discussions with the chief minister and the finance minister, and indicated that both were sympathetic to the contractors’ plight.

However, according to Milind Bhosle, the assurances have not materialized. Since that statement, the PWD has only released ₹1,500 crore for dues in the last fiscal year, while the total disbursed amount across all departments stands at just ₹4,000 crore. Government either lacks the funds or the willingness to clear our bills,” he said.

The associations have now pinned their hopes on the judiciary, believing the court’s intervention is their last resort to compel the government to clear the dues and ensure that future project payments are not delayed.

If the standoff continues unresolved, Maharashtra could soon witness a large-scale shutdown of public infrastructure work, affecting roads, irrigation projects, water supply schemes, and rural development initiatives across the state.