BENGALURU: Following the line drawn in the state budget, the most criticised projects — the sky deck, tunnel road, double decker flyover, white topped roads and utilising buffer zones along drains for road works — have found their place in the 2025- 26 Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) budget for the state capital.
The city corporation released a budget outlay of Rs 19,930.64 crore for 2025- 26, while last year the budget outlay was Rs 12,371.63 crore. Furthermore, from April 1, citizens will also have to pay garbage user fees ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 400 per month depending upon the built-up area.
The BBMP budget states that the total receipts of Rs 19,930.64 crore also comprise of an opening balance of Rs 2.53 crore, revenue from its own resources of Rs 11,149.17 crore and central and state government grants of Rs 8,778.94 crore. With this budget, including a total expenditure of Rs 19,930.64 crore, a surplus budget of Rs 3.56 crore is presented before the citizens of Bengaluru.
The BBMP listed Rs 42,000 crore for tunnel roads, where Rs 17,780 crore is being used for constructing tunnels along NH-7 from Hebbal-Hosur Road up to Silk Board.
“A detailed project report is being prepared. The state government has also stood guarantee for the project for Rs 19,000 crore. The project will be done under viability gap funds where 40% is financed by the government and BBMP through bank loans and the remaining 60% is expected from concessionaires. We have identified seven lakh properties which are outside BBMP’s tax net. They will be included, wherein tax will be collected and fines will be imposed. We will also be collecting money from advertisements and other projects including collection of garbage service charges where we have set a target to collect Rs 685 crore,” BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath told the media, on the sidelines of the release of the budget document.
He said a revised list of those escaping tax net has also been prepared and it has been found that a total of Rs 1,277 crore has to be collected, including cess and other taxes. The BBMP is aiming to generate Rs 5716 crore from property tax collection this fiscal year.
He added a special purpose vehicle has been formed for the implementation of infrastructure projects. Also, Rs 700 crore has been dedicated this financial year for Brand Bengaluru works. The BBMP has also allocated Rs 1,400 crore for solid waste management. Further Rs 40 crore has been allocated for ITeS, AI and the creation of various IT tools for BBMP’s management of works.
Adding to this, BBMP Special Commissioner (finance) Harish Kumar said the funds for infrastructure have increased by Rs 4,000 crore this financial year, compared to last year.
Interestingly, in the BBMP budget, the discretionary grants allocated to the CM and DCM have been reduced. During the last financial year, Rs 37.17 crore and Rs 162.85 crore was allocated as CM and DCM discretionary grants, respectively, which have been reduced to Rs 35.56 crore and Rs 135.31 crore, respectively, this financial year. The overall discretionary funds have dropped from Rs 627.48 crore to Rs 298.22 crore this fiscal year.