Ludhiana mayor to present MC budget on March 24

During meet with the Ludhiana mayor, leaders of the opposition parties proposed that expenditure for development works in Ludhiana should be increased from ₹30 crore to ₹38 crore

Delay in execution of the development projects and higher allocation for construction of roads are among the issues likely to take centre stage at the meeting of the municipal corporation today, where the outgoing mayor Balkar Sandhu will present the budget for the upcoming financial year 2023-24.

Ludhiana mayor on Thursday chaired an all-party meeting at his official residence where the members of various parties put forward their demands and sought an increase in the expenditure under the development projects (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The house meeting will take place at the municipal corporation’s Zone A office at 3pm.

On Thursday, the mayor chaired an all-party meeting at his official residence where the members of various parties put forward their demands and sought an increase in the expenditure under the development projects. MC commissioner Shena Aggarwal was also present in the meeting.

The leaders of the opposition parties proposed that expenditure for development works should be increased from ₹30 crore to ₹38 crore. Final decision regarding the same will be taken during the house meeting.

Councillors from Bharatiya Janata Party sought an increase in income targets from advertisement, building and property tax.

Representing Shiromani Akali Dal, Harbhajan Singh Dang said that the development projects in different parts of the city are still lying pending and issues raised in the previous house meeting have not been addressed. He added that he will raise the issue in the zero-hour as it concerns the public most.

Representing the BJP, Inder Aggarwal said that issues of pending non-objection certificates will be raised and sought a transparent and easy process for the same. He said that MC collects cow cess but has failed to curb the problem of stray cattle.

As per the proposed budget, the MC will receive ₹610 crore as a share of GST from the state government, ₹115 crore by recovery of property tax, ₹90 crore as municipal tax on electricity, ₹12.1 crore as advertisement tax, ₹36 crore as regularisation fee of buildings, ₹14 crore from change of land use (CLU), ₹50 crore from additional excise duty etc.

As per the proposed expenses, a major chunk of the budget ₹565.30 crore will go towards salaries. The MC has earmarked ₹136.50 crore for roads, bridges, streets and drain streetlights, and parks, ₹43 crore for development works including water supply, sewerage, stormwater and tubewell, ₹16 crore have been set aside for capital works including desilting and purchase of machinery, while ₹118 crore will be used for maintenance work including sewerage chlorination and energy bills.