Mumbai: A nearly 14% rise in budget allocations this year and no additional taxes on citizens would increase the BMC’s focus on its revenue. As motivated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his last month’s visit, the civic body will dip into its humongous Fixed Deposits, too.
BMC estimated this year's revenue greater than that of last year
A budget of Rs 52,619 crore for 2023-24 was presented on Saturday and the estimated revenue income is Rs 33,290.03 crore, which is Rs 2,546 crore more than the estimate of 2022- 23. Last year, the estimated BMC revenue was Rs 30,743.61 crore.
Meanwhile, some of the sources are grants in aid on account of compensation in lieu of octroi (Rs 12,344.10 crore), property tax (Rs 6,000 crore), Development Plan Department (Rs 4,400 crore), interest on investments (Rs 1,707.24 crore) and income from water and sewage charges (Rs 1,965.64 crore).
Details on property tax collection
In 2022-23, revenue from property tax was estimated at Rs7,000 crore, which was revised to Rs 4,800 crore, a dip of Rs 2,200 crore. The actual income until Dec 31, 2022 was Rs 3,174.46 crore.
Attributing the dip to several factors, BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal said one of them was property tax exemption for homes up to 500 square feet.
“The second was tax revision, which has to be done every five years. Tax revision is pending from 2020-21 as people were not in a position to pay increased tax because of the pandemic,” he said. The BMC also lost a Supreme Court case involving the recovery of property tax assessed before and after April 1, 2010.
BMC's income last year from Development Plan department
Last year, the BMC estimated an income of Rs 3,950 crore from the Development Plan department, but till Dec 31, 2022, it collected Rs 2,711.97 crore. The revised estimate of revenue from interest was Rs 1,406.31 crore but the BMC could collect only Rs 947.99 cr till Dec 31. For 2023-24,the civic body has proposed Rs 1,707.24 crore in this regard.
The grant in aid on account of compensation in lieu of octroi for 2022-23 was estimated at Rs 1,142 crore but Rs 511.50 crore was recovered till January 2023. For 2023-24, the BMC has estimated Rs 1,234.10 crore in lieu of octroi.
