Government saves almost Rs 5 crore by withdrawing security cover of 40 Mumbai builders

Local Press Co 5-point Snippet

1. Mumbai Police has stripped the security cover of 40 city-based builders after a recent audit revealed to no imminent threat to them.

2. The audit was conducted by senior officials to determine if the builders were still under any risk from the underworld. Based on the audit’s results, Mumbai Police ascertained that 40 city builders were not under any imminent threat and decided to withdraw their security cover.

3. According to Indian Express, the builders whose security cover was withdrawn include Abhishek Lodha & Abhinandan Lodha from Lodha group, Rakesh, Kapil, Dheeraj and Sarang Wadhawan of HDIL, Vinod Goenka and Shahid Balwa of DB Realty among others. However, Nusli Wadia of Wadia Group and Mangal Prabhat Lodha of Lodha Group will continue to receive security cover.

4. The security provided to city builders is classified as ‘non-category’ security where the threat assessment is done by the police. If the threat perception is positive, the expenses of two to four armed policemen on shifts are borne by the state government.

5. Since the security cover would cost the government over a lakh per month per person, by withdrawing the security cover of 40 builders, the government is expected to save Rs 40 lakh per month and Rs 4.8 crore annually. Earlier, a similar audit was conducted for Bollywood personalities and the security cover was withdrawn for 40 personalities like Rajkumar Hirani, Farah Khan, Vidhu Vinod Chopra.