CHENNAI: Mayor R Priya on Wednesday presented a Rs 5,214.09-crore budget with a projected revenue deficit of Rs 68.5 crore. The focus this year is on infrastructure, solid waste management and special projects.
While the corporation has been attempting to bring down the revenue deficit since 2022, it went up to Rs 452 crore in the revised estimates from the projected Rs 262.5 crores in last year's budget. The deficit in 2023-2024 was Rs 333.07 crore.
Senior corporation officials told TNIE that the projected revenue deficit this year was much lower with the corporation expecting a 4-5% increase in its own revenue and the maintenance expenditure going down from Rs 1,949 crore in the revised estimates last year to Rs 1,864 crore.
"This is mainly due to prudent financial control. With a bulk of our maintenance work outsourced and Covid-related expenditure coming down, we are expecting to bring down the revenue deficit," a senior official.
With works under several schemes such as Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited (TURIF) coming to a close in 2025, the contribution to capital expenditure from the corporation's own revenue expenditure is also coming down.
As for property tax, the corporation's primary source of revenue, the budget expects a collection of Rs 2,020 crore. While as per the revised estimates last year, the property tax collection was pegged at Rs 1,900 crore, corporation officials said they have so far collected Rs 1,891 crore and are expecting to close at nearly Rs 2,000 crore.
For the bus route roads department, an allocation of Rs 628.35 crore has been made, which is an increase from Rs 304.85 crore from the previous year. Solid waste management has also seen a boost, with Rs 352 crore being allocated, four times the amount (Rs 87.78 crore) allocated last year. The allocation for special projects also saw an increase with Rs 179.03 crore, which is Rs 79 crore higher than the previous year.
However, in other sectors like stormwater drains, the allocation has decreased slightly from Rs 1,050.40 crore last year to Rs 1032.25 crore this year. Education saw a reduction of Rs 36 lakh, while health saw only a modest increase of Rs 50 lakh compared to last year.
The budget for bridges has also decreased, with Rs 164.03 crore allocated this year against Rs 171.51 crore last year.
While the Nirbhaya scheme did not see an allocation, corporation officials said that of the Rs 173 crore allotted by the centre under the scheme, works are already 88% complete, having already utilised Rs 153 crore.