Of the Rs 8,073 cr the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has claimed as total receipts, Rs 6,032 cr will only be spent on clearing its dues The BJP-ruled BBMP's maiden budget only shows that the municipality is deep in debt, with 78 per cent of the total receipts going towards paying pending bills and interest. Although the budget boasts of total receipts of Rs 8,073 cr, Rs 6,302 cr is earmarked for clearing the dues that include pending bills for the completed and ongoing public works (Rs 4,878 cr), ongoing projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme (Rs 526 cr), debt servicing that is nothing but interest payment (Rs 592 cr), salaries and pension (Rs 333 cr) and administrative expenses (Rs 162 cr). After all this, the exchequer will be left with Rs 1,771 cr, only in case the estimated revenue is met at the end of the fiscal year. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2010/aug/assembly1.jpg" border="5" /> Municipal corporators from across the city attended the maiden budget session of the BJP-ruled civic body that was presented yesterday. The BBMP is mainly banking on the special grants from the state government and 13th state finance commission. The finance commission has granted Rs 403.69 cr, while BBMP is expecting Rs 122 cr more from it. u00a0 The request for Rs 1,300 cr from the state government as special grants has not yet elicited any response. A senior official in the state finance department said the government was not in a position to grant that much money, as the financial condition was not so good. While there is no fresh tax proposal, the budget has proposed to broaden the tax base by bringing more properties in the tax net and making licences for small shops mandatory. However, these efforts are not enough to meet the requirement as the total expenses is estimated at Rs 8,488 cr. "There is no other option but to borrow from banks," said PN Sadashiva, chairman, tax and finance committee, who presented the budget yesterday. "The government has allowed us to borrow up to Rs 2,200 cr, while we are expecting substantial assistance from the government." But, the harsh reality is that the borrowed amount will not be sufficient to clear the debts leave alone the developmental works. "As per the government rules the BBMP can not borrow more than 25 per cent of the budget size and the debt itself is more that 70 per cent. That means the even the fresh borrowings are not enough to clear the old debts," said PR Ramesh, former mayor and a senior Congress leader.

Of the Rs 8,073 cr the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has claimed as total receipts, Rs 6,032 cr will only be spent on clearing its dues

Big budget, little money

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Big budget, little money

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