Indore civic body mops up over ₹214 crore revenue

The Indore civic body has seen a 12.33% jump in revenue collection during the current fiscal (2016-17) by collecting ₹214.60 crore revenue till December end against ₹191.03 crore collected during the same period in the previous fiscal (2015-16). The municipal body has an annual target of collecting ₹300 crore as revenue.

The Indore civic body has seen a 12.33% jump in revenue collection during the current fiscal (2016-17) by collecting ₹214.60 crore revenue till December end against ₹191.03 crore collected during the same period in the previous fiscal (2015-16). The municipal body has an annual target of collecting ₹300 crore as revenue.

Civic agencies across the country collected fantastic returns as people were taking advantage of schemes to clear longstanding tax dues with abolished 500- and 1,000-rupee notes. (Pic for representation)

Civic agencies across the country collected fantastic returns as people were taking advantage of schemes to clear longstanding tax dues with abolished 500- and 1,000-rupee notes. A majority of this tax has been collected after November 8, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced scrapping of the high-value notes.

According to sources, the Indore municipal corporation has seen a significant rise in property tax collection. A record ₹151.57 crore property tax was collected in the first nine months of the ongoing fiscal. In the previous fiscal, revenue collection from property taxation remained around ₹134.04 crore in the first three quarters.

Revenue collection from water taxation also went up by 20% to stand at ₹24.17 crore. The municipal corporation had collected just ₹19.99 crore last year during the same period.

(* All figures in crores)

“Revenue collection through water tax has improved significantly, but still there is a long list of defaulters. The corporation is losing a huge chunk of revenue on municipal water supply,” said Balram Verma, a mayor-in-council member.

At present, the corporation is losing about 67% of revenue from water tax due to leakages and non-payment of taxes. On the other hand, it incurs a significant expenditure on treatment of Narmada water at Jalud in Khargone district and transporting it for over 70 kilometres to supply across the city.

According to a corporation engineer, the civic body spends ₹29 per 1,000 liters to purify, transport and supply drinking water to Indore. The corporation spends another ₹30.2 crore every month to supply water to the city, but the collection of water tax stands at less than ₹3 crore per month.

“The water supply system and revenue collection can only be channelised with introduction of GIS and hydraulic modelling using SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition). The central government has sanctioned ₹885 crore under AMRUT scheme to set our water distribution network right,” said municipal commissioner Manish Singh.

Among all revenue receipts, the IMC has seen a dip of about 40% under rented property. The municipal body could only collect ₹3.75 crore from rent on properties lent out to businesses, as against ₹6.17 crore in the same period last fiscal.