Continuing the ‘please all’ policy, the civic administration continued with tax free budget for the year 2026-27 even as it increased the outlay to Rs 5840.65 crore, an increase of Rs 300 crore over the current financial year. Presenting the budget to Standing Committee on Friday, new Municipal Commissioner Dr Vipin Itankar chose to ignore the earlier deliberations of proposing increase in property tax, which he later explained, to mediapersons, needs deliberation with elected office-bearers.

 

He also disclosed that Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is planning to mop up Rs 200 crore through municipal bonds to fund the Naag River Rejuvenation Project. Despite lagging behind in collection of revenue during better part of the financial year, civic administration dug deep its heels to reach the target on the earnings as commission in the revised budget for year 2025-26 estimated the total mop up to reach Rs 5401.62 crore. Behind the statistical jugglery, as is evident from the budget document, is administration’s move to carry forward the surplus  previous year which was substantial, Rs 698.87 crore, to be precise. Later interacting with mediapersons at NMC

 

headquarters, Dr Itankar said for the next financial year, higher allocation represents the buoyancy on the internal accruals, the estimations presented in budget are representative in nature and major stress would be laid on robust recovery process. He mentioned that during the current financial year, the expected expenditure would be around Rs 5085.63 crore, of which in Part A it would be Rs 3789.23 crore and in Part C it is going to be around Rs 1296.40 crore. As to next year’s outlay, the Commissioner stated that as per finalised plan, the civic administration has proposed an expenditure of Rs 4358.56 crore under Part A and Rs 1482.09 crore in Part C. Post discussion with political leadership of State and Central Minister and that of NMC, Dr Itankar said this being the 75th year of NMC’s Foundation, it is proposed to develop 75 playgrounds. An assessment of each of the area would be taken into consideration while deciding on setting up the related sports activity infrastructure for the people.

 

Apart from that, various theme-based gardens plus adventure parks are planned to leverage the green and open space so that citizens can relax there. Transport: One of the major obligation for the civic body is running city bus service. With increased number of buses plying on city roads, the expenditure was expected to increased, but for the next financial year, Municipal Corporation administration has proposed a cut of Rs 10 crore. This year, the allocation is kept at Rs 160 crore, the same last year was Rs 170 crore. GST: A major source for revenue to NMC is GST compensation and for the next year, it is expected to be Rs 1913.68 crore. During current financial year, the total revenue under this head would be around Rs 1767.10 crore and 8 per cent increase is expected.

 

Also, the Accounts Departments expects to earn Rs 70 crore through receipts of stamp duty and Rs 25 crore from entertainment tax. Commissioner, in his budget, has placed maximum bet on Town Planning saying for next financial year, the NMC expects to generate a revenue of Rs 450 crore. He is banking on buoyant property market and hopeful of maximising the gain from the same. Another reason for the upbeat mood is State Government’s decision to increase FSI by 10 per cent under UDCPR. By March end, NMC is expecting to net Rs 374.67 crore from the Town Planning Department. Property Tax: This is also a major revenue earner for the civic body and as per tradition, the target for next year is pegged at Rs 375 crore.

 

In current year, due to many diversion for the tax personnel, the NMC is expected to just about reach Rs 300 crore while the target is around Rs 325 crore. However, Commissioner in his budget outlined that the continuous flow of data due to integration of Geoenabled Property Tax Management System of civic body with IGR and BPMS system, now any transaction of property gets automatically updated. This enables updating property register in real time and it reflects in increase of Rs 21.36 crore in current year as about 16,992 new properties were added on record.

 

The total number of properties registered with NMC system now stands at 6.76 lakh. To a querry, Commissioner said he does agree with contention that floating municipal bonds would add to repayment pressure on NMC. He explained that the bonds are going to be finalised within next 2 months with assured rate of over 8 per cent for investors and compared to bank loan it is quite cheap. On top of that, for top 20 corporation, Central Government gives 2 per cent subsidy, that way NMC outgo would be just 6 per cent. Similarly, he dismissed apprehension that Central Government has not made any allocation, saying ongoing project always get funds no matter what. Additional Commissioners Vasumana Pant and Vaishnavi B along with Accounts and Finance Officer Sadashiv Shelke were also present during the media interaction.

 

NMC to seek share in profession tax from State: Dani-Wakhre The elected office-bearers are proceeding to Mumbai next week for meeting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, seeking share from professional tax for Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Shivani Dani-Wakhre, Chairperson, Standing Committee, interacting with newspersons at NMC on Friday mentioned that if the proposal materialises then a substantial amount, in range of Rs 110 to Rs 120 crore can be generated for additional development works in city.

 

As to budget, she said the Standing Committee is going to required some more time and hence before April, its finalisation seems distant. Narendra alias Balya Borkar, Ruling Party Leader, NMC, who was also present, also said that a delegation of ruling party office-bearers would plead with Chief Minister for increasing the civic body share in development funds. Wakhre said she has just glanced through the administration’s proposals and highlighted the 75 playgrounds development and something novel.

 

Also the green bonds of Rs 200 crore is a welcome development and same help speed up the Naag River Rejuvenation project. Standing Committee is thinking of increasing the capex and also deliberate on measures through which NMC revenue can be increased. About property tax hike, Wakhre said, the Committee members is going to take a critical look and find some solution. As of now we are awaiting suggestions from citizens and after studying the same, the budget would be submitted to House. Asked about the entertainment tax, she said NMC has sought legal opinion as in past State Government had exempted the cinema theatres and other from its preview.