MC house gives nod to Rs 1,063-crore budget for Ludhiana in just 14 minutes

LUDHIANA: The MC general house passed an annual budget worth Rs 1,062.66 crore only in 14 minutes during the last meeting of the current house on Friday. The house witnessed no major discussion or suggestions from councillors.
MC officials had earlier prepared a budget draft of Rs 1,043 crore, but it was decided to enhance budget estimates for few heads in the all-party meeting on Thursday. A major portion of the budget will still be spent on establishment and paying salaries to employees.
Out of total Rs 1,062.66 crore, the MC will spend Rs 565 crore on establishment, Rs 12.30 crore on contingency and Rs 473 crore for development works. In the budget, total income is Rs 12 crore more than the proposed expenses for the next year.
The major part of MC income will be through GST share which is estimated to be Rs 610 crore. The MC expected to earn Rs 120 crore from property tax, Rs 60 crore from water supply, sewerage and disposal charges, Rs 12.10 crore from advertisement tax, Rs 14 crore from change of land use, Rs 36 crore from composition and regularization of buildings. Officials had earlier proposed Rs 10 crore in cow cess, but with the intervention of councillors it was increased to Rs 20 crore.
For development works, Rs 38 crore has been kept for new roads, Rs 9.5 crore for bridges and projects, Rs 80 crore for streets and drains. As much as Rs 177 crore has been kept in the MC budget for water supply and sewerage related works.