Mumbai: The state cabinet on Tuesday approved an asset monetisation policy to generate income sources through assets for municipal corporations, municipal councils, and nagar panchayats. Officials said this was done to make urban local bodies more financially capable and self-reliant, so that they can earn income from the investment of their assets.“The main objective of this policy is to increase income from the land, buildings, commercial complexes, markets, public facilities, and other immovable properties owned by local self-government bodies in a planned and transparent manner. This policy will provide local self-government bodies with their own sustainable financial sources. This will make it possible to raise the necessary funds to provide water supply, sanitation, roads, health, education, transport, and other civic facilities more effectively,” an official said.“Also, the dependence on grants from the central and state governments will be reduced and the financial autonomy of local bodies will be strengthened. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and other suitable development models can be adopted for the development of properties, and all processes will be implemented in a transparent, competitive and citizen-friendly manner,” the official said.“Currently, 29 Municipal Corporations, 15 “A” Class Municipal Councils, 78 “B” Class Municipal Councils, 146 “C” Class Municipal Councils and 743 Nagar Panchayats are functioning in the state. All these urban local bodies will benefit from this policy, which will help in increasing their financial capacity and giving more impetus to urban development. This policy will remain in force till 31 July 2031 or until a new policy is issued,” the official said.Officials said asset monetization by municipal corporations in Maharashtra involves leasing or commercializing under-utilized civic properties (land, parking lots, and buildings) to generate alternative revenue. Facing stretched budgets, major bodies like the BMC and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) use these frameworks to fund urban infrastructure without selling core ownership.