The Times of India                 22.11.2010

PCMC standing committee asks for revised budget

PUNE: The standing committee of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has asked the civic administration to prepare a revised budget by the first week of December, which will be approved in next month's general body meeting.

"If a provision for a project in a ward is made in the annual budget, but the corporator concerned wants to implement another project in its place, then the money allocated for that project can be transferred to the new project through a revised budget," said Prashant Shitole, chairman of the standing committee.

According to Babu Nair, member of the standing committee, "The civic administration should present a revised budget for 2010-11 considering the additional octroi income in the past six months. The revised budget should contain revised expenditure, based on revised income."

At the standing committee meeting, Nair sought information about the pending bills that the PCMC has to pay contractors till March 31, 2011. Shitole said that, according to civic officials, outstanding bills of Rs 40 to Rs 50 crore were cleared by Diwali and there were no outstanding bills to be paid.

He added that the committee also sought information from the civic administration about pending projects and projects affected by the election code of conduct. Shitole said, "Discussions were also held about the octroi income from gold. There are 450 jewellery shops in the municipal limits, but only 225 to 250 are members of the jewellers' association. The PCMC gets only Rs 15 lakh as octroi from the jewellers but we expect to get at least Rs 10 crore."