HYDERABAD: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) on Thursday proposed Rs 5,600 crore budget for the financial year 2021-2022 and presented it to the standing committee. The proposed budget will be Rs 220 crore more than the current year’s budget, Rs 5,380 crore. Records reveal income of the civic body has reduced, but its expenditure increased. In 2020-21, the civic body was expecting Rs 3,667 crore revenue and in 2021-22 it hopes to raise Rs 3,571 crore. In the revised budget estimates too, revenue income was reduced to Rs 3,296 crore.
Of the proposed Rs 5,600 crore budget for 2021-22, capital expenditure, which takes care of infrastructure projects, roads, street lighting and storm water drains, is Rs 3,186 crore. The spending might further increase as capital expenditure proposed jumped from Rs 2,630 crore (2020-21) to Rs 3,186 crore (2021-22).
Compared to the current year’s expenditure, an additional Rs 566 crore would be spent on roads, infrastructure and other works. Also, money spent on greenery would be 10-fold more compared to the current year. The civic body has allocated Rs 51.50 crore for urban forestry this year, while it plans to spend Rs 560 crore next year.
While Rs 1,593 crore was allocated in 2019-20 for construction of houses under the flagship 2-BHK scheme of the TRS government, for the upcoming 2021-22 Rs 1,241.87 crore has been proposed. The civic body estimates that major sources of Rs 3,571-crore revenue would be from property tax (Rs 1,850 crore) and building fee (Rs 1,002 crore) and assigned revenue Rs 652.10 crore. Assigned revenue includes surcharge on stamp duty , profession tax etc. The revenue expenditure would be Rs 2,414 crore, leaving a surplus of Rs 1,157 crore. “Usually, GHMC is in revenue surplus, the capital expenditure has increased as this year we have taken up and planned more number of strategic road development plan (SRDP) and comprehensive road maintenance programme (CRMP) works,” GHMC commissioner DS Lokesh Kumar said.
The GHMC standing committee, headed by mayor Bonthu Rammohan, would submit the budget proposals to the state government in March. “The budget will be reviewed by the standing committee on December 10, cleared by general body on January 10, sanction of budget by the corporation is scheduled on February 20 and it will be submitted to government on March 7,” Rammohan said.