TMC’s ₹4,370-crore budget to focus on health, education, cleanliness

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) on Tuesday presented a ₹4,370-crore budget for the financial year 2023-24, ₹1,071 crore more than the previous year, with no proposals for any tax hike

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) on Tuesday presented a ₹4,370-crore budget for the financial year 2023-24, ₹1,071 crore more than the previous year, with no proposals for any tax hike.

Thane, India - March 21, 2023: TMC Commissioner Abhijit Bangar presenting the budget of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), in Thane, India, on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Thane municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar called it a “citizen-oriented budget” that aimed to focus on three major aspects—cleanliness, health and education services for Thane citizens. “We will focus on these in the coming financial year,” he said. “The chief minister too has been keen on improving Thane city along these lines. His suggestions were also inculcated in the budget.”

The budgetary allocations focus on city beautification, pothole-free roads, waste management and improved health facilities. “The emphasis will be on quality work,” said Bangar. “We will provide incentives for good work and impose penalties if it is substandard. This will help improve the quality of life in Thane city.”

The budget emphasises increasing revenue income, fiscal discipline in expenditure and reduction of unnecessary revenue expenditure.

The income from property tax and fees in 2022-23 has been revised from ₹713.77 crore to ₹677.27 crore by March 31, as actual income from property tax collection so far has been ₹599.73 crore. The budget has set a property tax target of ₹761.72 crore for 2023-24. The corporation is also expecting to collect revenue of ₹225 crore from water tax. According to the budget document, the TMC has an outstanding loan of ₹95.55 crore.

The central government has approved the detailed project report for the expansion of water supply under Amrut Scheme 2, under which the central government will have a 25 percent share, the state government 25 percent and the municipal corporation 50 percent. The municipality plans to raise funds through municipal bonds for its 50 percent share.

“If municipal bonds are made available, the subsidy amount will also be available from the central government,” said Bangar. “For this, ₹200 crore worth of municipal bonds will be made available as per the progress of the work. We are expecting ₹50 crore from municipal bonds.”

In terms of expenditure, the civic body has made budgetary allocations of ₹84 crore for a new waste collection system, ₹23 crore for a waste transfer station, ₹45 crore for a new waste treatment plant at Daighar, ₹10 crore for treating and clearing the waste dumped at the Diva dumping ground, and ₹85 crore for road-cleaning works. The budget has also allocated ₹81 crore for the renovation and reconstruction of 762 toilets comprising 9,561 seats. The TMC presently has 915 toilets with 12,710 seats.

Under the chief minister’s ambitious ‘Changing Thane’ campaign, a strong network of roads is proposed to be constructed across Thane. The government has approved a total of ₹605 crore, which comprises ₹214 crore in Phase 1 and ₹391 crore in Phase 2. Apart from this, the civic body will spend ₹300 crore on road works, which includes renewals, missing links, and widening and concretisation works.

An allocation of ₹30 crore has been made for beautification works in Thane city and ₹10 crore for lake conservation and beautification. While several projects have been undertaken for traffic management in Thane city, ₹3 crore has been allocated for traffic wardens to control traffic movement in the city.