Delhi Budget: MCD allocation up, bucks 3-year trend

Finance minister Kailash Gahlot said the state government will provide a total financial assistance of ₹8,241 crore in the budget estimates for 2023-24

The Delhi government has significantly increased the budgetary allocation for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi with a provision of ₹8,241 crore -- a jump of over ₹2,000 crore from last year -- defying the trend of reduction in allocations for the three erstwhile municipal corporations over the last three years.

While delivering the budget on the theme of a “clean, beautiful, and modern city”, finance minister Kailash Gahlot said the state government will work “hand in hand with the MCD”. (HT Archive)

While delivering the budget on the theme of a “clean, beautiful, and modern city”, finance minister Kailash Gahlot said the state government will work “hand in hand with the MCD and provide it with whatever support is necessary”.

Gahlot said the state government will provide a total financial assistance of ₹8,241 crore in the budget estimates for 2023-24.

“Of this, ₹2,659 crore will be in the form of linked funds for implementation of schemes, programmes and projects by the local body, ₹2,492 crore will be in the form of Basic Tax Assignment (BTA) and ₹2,240 crore will be provided to the local body as part of stamp and registration charges and one-time parking charges,” Gahlot said. The allocation also includes a loan of ₹850 crore being provided for the project to clear up the three landfill sites in the Capital.

The issue of fund allocation between the Delhi government and the erstwhile MCDs led to a longstanding tussle, with several protests and strikes organised in the cash-strapped municipal bodies. The Delhi government had reduced the budgetary allocation to the erstwhile three municipal bodies for three successive years, with an overall provision of ₹6,828 crore made in financial year 2020-21, ₹6,172 crore in 2021-22 crore and ₹6,154 crore in 2022-23.

The civic body gets funds from the state government in the form of three key streams -- for schemes and projects, basic tax assignment share, and portion of stamp registration and one-time parking charges. In comparison to last year’s allocation, the largest increase in share wasobserved in stamp/registration duty and one-time parking charges with a 25.8% jump from ₹1,780 crore to ₹2,240 crore; a 20% rise in Basic Tax Assignment (BTA) rise from ₹2,069 crore to ₹2,492 crore; and a 15% jump in the linked funds for schemes/projects rising from ₹2,305 crore to ₹2,659 crore.

Grants and allocations from the state government form a significant chunk of revenue for the corporation. While the final budgetary proposals for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi are yet to be finalised due to the ongoing tussle over the formation of a standing committee, municipal commissioner Gyanesh Bharti had proposed a tentative municipal budget of ₹16,023.5 crore.

A senior municipal official said the additional allocation will help the civic body execute long-pending projects.

“Our main priority is to ensure that salaries of the employees are paid on time. The additional funds will also be used for improving the road sweeping and sanitation infrastructure. The additional funds for landfill clean-up will help in increasing the number of trommel machines,” said an official.

In the run-up to the municipal elections in 2022, cleaning Delhi was the key promise by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Leader of the house in MCD and AAP councillor Mukesh Goyal said that the extra budget allocation for the corporation will go a long way in improving the financial situation of the corporation. “Such significant increase in the budgetary allocation will help us to delivery on the ten guarantees that were made in the run up of civic polls. We will be able to ensure that the corporation employees’ salaries are paid on time every month. We will ensure that Delhi is clean, beautiful and landfill free city.”

Kamaljeet Sehrawat, former mayor of the South MCD and BJP councillor from Dwarka, said the constant decrease in allocation during the BJP years in the MCD showed that the people of Delhi were being shortchanged. “Delhi has not changed and the government was as much responsible for ensuring that the corporation is able to deliver on the basic services of sanitation, primary education, controlling diseases. All the mayors and MCD functionaries even sat on a dharna outside the CM’s house for 13 days to get the rightful share but nothing was done by the AAP government. They were reducing the budget share to prevent the MCD from operating.”