CMO clears BBMP budget, ups outlay by Rs 377 crore  

BENGALURU : The Chief Minister’s Office late on Saturday night approved the BBMP budget and increased the amount by Rs 377.50 crore. The budget approval order, a copy of which is with The New Indian Express, has been sent to the Urban Development Department, while it is yet to be forwarded to the BBMP head office.

With an opening balance of Rs 5.58 crore, the BBMP on March 31, 2022 released a budget outlay of Rs 10,484.70 crore, and the government okayed Rs 10,861.78 crore. The budget allocated for solid waste management and machinery management has been increased from Rs 15 crore to Rs 90 crore and for water and lines management from Rs 40 crore to Rs 65 crore, with the note that if the task is being executed by BWSSB, it should pay the increased amount of Rs 25 crore to BBMP.

The government has also increased the mayor’s grant for media fraternity and health from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 crore. Rs 1 crore has been earmarked for the IDP Sallappa beneficiary programme for holding academic discussions and for the benefit of pourakarmikas and Kannada language. For landfills, solid waste management and quarry management, the amount has been increased from Rs 20 crore to Rs 95 crore.

BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath said, “The budget has been approved, but it has to be communicated to us officially. We might get the official communication by Monday.” A senior BBMP official said the budget amount for solid waste management has been increased as the government has noticed that there are many court cases and the execution of works has been facing criticism from the judiciary and citizens. The civil society has been critical of the management and that needs to be set right, he added.

The official said the government has seen that though the collection of property tax in April was good, it is not consistent. “Many large properties are still not under the BBMP tax ambit. They are being tracked through Bescom bills and will be assessed based on that. Also, people underestimate their properties under the Self-Assessment Scheme (SAS) and pay lesser amounts as tax.

Those who have rented out properties show them as self-occupied to avoid taxes. Many properties, including commercial establishments, hotels, homes, offices and hospitals, have dues pending up to Rs 20 crore. We will take action and recover the dues,” he said. BBMP Administrator Rakesh Singh said the government has set a target for the Palike to review the works every three months and to have around Rs 10,000 crore to execute the works, so that budget proposals are implemented.

This is not the first time that the government has revised the budget amount upwards. In 2020, against BBMP’s outlay of Rs 10,899.84 crore, it had been increased to Rs 11,715.2 crore. In 2019, the BBMP Council, after debating it for three days, had approved the budget of Rs 12,574.77 crore, which was upped by Rs 1,886.14 crore. In 2021-22, however, the Palike outlay was Rs 88,048.13 lakh, and the same amount was okayed.

Budget at a glance

Rs 5.58 cr starting balance 

Rs 10,478.7 cr estimate

Rs 377.50 cr additional amount by govt

Rs 10,861.78 Cr Total