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Financial Management

BBMP budget postponed

Thursday, 12 August 2010 05:39 administrator
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The Hindu       12.08.2010

BBMP budget postponed

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: Looks like the citizens have to wait a little while longer for the announcement of the much anticipated Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Budget. According to highly placed sources, the budget is likely to be announced only after August 20.

The Budget preparations began in earnest after the first Standing Committee – on Taxation and Finance, was formed on June 29. Yet, the Budget was presented as the ruling party in the BBMP Council (BJP) did not want to table it during the Ashada month, considered to be inauspicious as per the Hindu calendar.

Sources said that initially, the Budget was to have been announced on August 16. With the BJP organising conventions, most councillors are likely to be away from the city. However, a member of the committee, on condition of anonymity, told The Hindu that Commissioner Siddaiah had submitted a draft copy of the Budget with his comments only on August 7. “According to the procedure laid down by the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, the committee members have to meet again, approve the draft copy and fix the date. All the councillors will have to be notified about the Budget announcement a week in advance,” the member said.

The committee members are likely to meet on Thursday to fix the date. “The Budget will tentatively be announced either on August 21 or 23,” sources said.

The member said the tax would not be raised this year. While the budget outlay was Rs. 4,247 crore last year, it would be more than Rs. 7,000 crore this year.

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 August 2010 05:41
 

BBMP budget outlay may be doubled

Friday, 06 August 2010 06:52 administrator
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The Deccan Chronicle 06.08.2010

BBMP budget outlay may be doubled

Tags: BBMP, Budget outlay
Aug. 5: The first popular Budget of the BBMP after it was formed in 2006, is likely to have a whopping outlay of Rs 7,000 crore which is almost double the outlay of the previous year’s budget. The BBMP was formed by merging more than 100 villages and several city municipal councils(CMCs) with the erstwhile Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike. In the past four years, budgets were presented by the administrator. This is the first budget after the new BBMP council was elected in March this year.

The major revenue spinner for the Palike will be property tax, advertisement fee and the fee earned from trade licences. Last year, BBMP had targeted Rs 1,100 crore from property tax but could collect only 797 crore despite implementing the revised Self Assessment Scheme (SAS).

The revenue generation in the other sectors is no different. Civic expert and Janaagraha co-founder Swathi Ramanathan is not surprised and says BBMP has more often than not, failed in meeting revenue targets. As a result, it has been borrowing heavily from various financial institutions though its capacity to repay these loans is in doubt. The cash strapped BBMP already owes Rs 2,334 crore to various financial institutions.

Considering the revenue generated by BBMP, the civic body would be forced to borrow at least 2,000 crore from financial institutions even if funds from the state government and the revenue earned from the Akrama Sakrama scheme for regularisation of illegal property is taken into account.

With this being the revenue generating capacity of BBMP, there is no point in presenting an inflated budget, asserts Swathi. “The BBMP would be a lot better off if it prepared a budget, taking into account the actual revenue and the anticipated expenditure instead of being carried away by grandiose projects,” she added. “Last year, the BBMP has presented budget for about Rs 4,000 crore. We will have to analyse what was the actual expenditure. The expenditure usually does not touch the budgetary allocation, which is a bad sign,” she said.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, chairman of the BBMP standing committee on taxation and finance, P.M. Sadashiva said the state government has assured financial assistance to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore. With the government approving the Sakrama Bill, the BBMP could anticipate an additional 1,500 crore as revenue while the inflow from property tax could run into Rs 1,500 crore.

“With the help of Geographical Information System (GIS), at least seven lakh properties which were out of the property tax have been identified. They would be brought under the tax net,” he said. These revenue receipts would help BBMP to comfortably execute the projects and plans proposed in the Budget, he added.

Last Updated on Friday, 06 August 2010 06:54
 

Budget may be more meetha than khatta

Thursday, 05 August 2010 11:35 administrator
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The Times of India  05.08.2010

Budget may be more meetha than khatta

BANGALORE: The much-delayed BBMP budget is likely to be bring cheer to senior citizens, women and green lovers. The budget, likely to be presented this month, will have an outlay of Rs 7,500 crore and incorporate certain citizen-friendly initiatives.

Geriatric patients with diabetics can walk into any BBMP hospital and get their sugar level test done free of cost. Scanning will be done in BBMP hospitals for expectant mothers from now on. So far in most BBMP's maternity homes, there was no scanning facility which forced patients to go to Vani Vilas and Victoria hospitals.

Tax and finance standing committee chairman P M Sadashiva told TOI that the budget would incorporate certain aspects of public life that had been shunned so far.

At present, only two BBMP hospitals have scanning machines and there is dearth of technicians. "With this move, we will be recruiting technicians," Sadashiva said.

Modern dhobi ghats

BBMP has plans to set up modernized dhobi ghats in Madiwala Machaiah quarters, Sunkenahalli, Rajajinagar, Dasarahalli, Mahalakshmi Layout areas where the traditional dhobi communities are operating from. The modern version will have boilers, rainwater harvesting facility, water recycling plant. Each unit is estimated to cost about Rs 2 crore.

"The washermen who constitute 5-6 lakh of city's population live in unhealthy conditions. They have health problems due to constant usage of water, detergents and other chemicals. The budget will address these issues," said Manjunath Raju, member, T&F standing committee.

Students to get woollen sweaters

Another proposal is to distribute woollen sweaters to students studying in BBMP schools. "Keeping in mind the cold weather, we have realized that children require sweaters. All children studying in BBMP schools will be given sweaters,'' Sadashiva said.

142 green hubs to be made tree parks

Having realized that maintenance of lawns, ornamental plants in BBMP parks is expensive, the budget making committee has thought of setting up 142 tree parks in the city which have native flora. The plants species will be of those native varieties which will give the walkers the feel of old Bangalore, say the budget makers.

Global tender cancelled

To protect the interest of local players, BBMP has decided not to go in for global tenders for solid waste management. Instead one or two wards would be clubbed and one contractor would be entrusted with solid waste management in the clubbed wards," sources said.

Last Updated on Thursday, 05 August 2010 11:37
 
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