The South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s (SDMC) revised budget estimates for 2018 pegged its income at about ₹120 crore less than the amount estimated earlier, largely due to lower funds received from the Delhi government.
The SDMC, however, is expected to end the year with a surplus of ₹595 crore on account of high opening balance from the previous year, the SDMC commissioner’s budget speech, delivered on Tuesday, revealed.
While the corporation was estimated to generate ₹3,182 crores earlier, the revised estimate pegged its internal revenue at ₹3,222 crore.
The earlier estimate regarding funds to be received from the Delhi government was ₹1,410.80 crore, which has now been revised to ₹1,250 crore.
A corporation spokesperson said that the SDMC had been increasing the income generated through its own sources but the Delhi government had not released close to ₹450 crore under various heads, including urban development, sanitation and transport, which it received in previous years.
A major shortfall was seen under the ‘grant for education’ head to be given by the Delhi government, the commissioner’s speech revealed.
While the SDMC had earlier estimated that it would receive ₹605 crore under this head, the revised estimate stands at ₹483 crore. Under the same head, the SDMC received ₹436 crore in 2017 and ₹420 crore in 2016.
The estimated revenue under the ‘global share of tax’ was ₹551 crore, which has now been lowered to ₹518 crore. Under the same head, the SDMC received ₹471 crore in 2017 and ₹455 crore in 2016.
With regard to the corporation’s internal sources of revenue, the amount generated from toll taxes saw a drop of close to ₹71 crore, largely due to closure of toll booths for the setting up of RFID systems.
Revenue generation
Revenue generated from property tax collection saw a rise, with ₹800 core being collected as opposed to an original estimate of ₹715 core. Revenue generated from car parking was estimated at ₹55 crore, but the corporation managed to take in ₹110 crore.
The SDMC’s revised expenditure estimates stood at ₹5,244 crore as opposed to ₹5,032 crore estimated earlier. This was largely due to higher than estimated expenditure on education, sanitation and public health.
In 2017, the corporation had an opening balance of ₹1,366.5 crore due to which it is estimated that the corporation will have a surplus at the end of this year too.
