bmc: City Dips Into Reserves For Growth | Mumbai News – Times of India

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MUMBAI: This year, BMC will revise property tax rates, an exercise that is carried out every few years based on appreciation in real estate values but was deferred in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Underscoring the need to raise more funds for the city in future, municipal commissioner I S Chahal pointed out the challenges of meeting both capital and revenue expenditure and said new revenue sources would have to be tapped. This year, he said, the BMC was withdrawing Rs 9,706 crore from its special and reserve funds to pay bills for infrastructure projects and taking a loan of Rs 4,998 crore against the same funds.
“Considering the increasing liabilities of ongoing projects and special projects, huge amounts will be required in the future…also, there will be a need for sizable funds for upkeeping and upgradation of these facilities in the future,” said Chahal.

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He added that the BMC would adopt a policy to undertake only high priority works so that projects in the pipeline are not hampered due to lack of funds. Though BMC was dipping into reserve funds, it was ensuring funds are channelised towards infrastructure projects, he added. “31,323 crore is being held by BMC in reserves towards committed liabilities in a position of trust. The remaining 55,807 crore has now been linked to various infrastructure projects. This will ensure that reserves are funnelled towards capital expenditure to improve infrastructure for citizens in Mumbai,” Chahal said.
With the state reducing development premium for construction by 50%, BMC earned Rs 13,543 crore till January 31 this year through this channel. However, revenue from property tax collections fell short of the targeted Rs 7,000 crore with a mop-up of Rs 4,800 in all. Chahal said Rs 462 crore was also waived off as part of concessions announced for those living in homes below 500 sq ft.
The civic chief said the focus of BMC’s work is increasingly on quality of life and ease of living. Mitigating climate change and improving air quality are among the priorities. “BMC has been covering areas related to climate change in a unified way through the dedicated Climate Action Plan Cell specially set up for this purpose and I am confident BMC will achieve ‘Net Zero’ (in carbon dioxide emissions) in the near future.” The emphasis on replacing the corporation’s existing fleet with electric vehicles (EVs) is in keeping with this objective.
The opposition, however, slammed most proposals. Samajwadi Party leader Rais Shaikh said the budget had nothing for the common man. “It’s an inflated budget and wasteful expenditures have been proposed on schemes like tactical urbanism,” said Shaikh.
Ruben Mascarenhas, Mumbai working president of the Aam Aadmi Party, said huge budget outlays mean nothing, when only 48% of last fiscal year 2021-2022 budget was actually utilized. This has been happening year after year, for the past several years, he added..

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