The State government, on Wednesday, accorded approval to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) 2020-21 budget, which has an outlay of ₹11,715.2 crore.
The budget that was presented before the BBMP council had an outlay of ₹10,899.84 crore. “We had presented the budget with an intention of ensuring that the outlay doesn’t cross ₹11,000 crore and is realistic. However, following discussions, the outlay was increased to ₹11,969.5 crore,” said L. Srinivas, chairperson of the Standing Committee for Taxation and Finance.
The State government has cut down the outlay by ₹254 crore before according approval, Mr. Srinivas said and added that the government had made minor changes to MLA grants, funding of pending and ongoing works, and road development.
During the budget discussions that were also held via videoconference, the councillors suggested uniform distribution of food kits to all wards, free distribution of masks and sanitisers, extension of 5% rebate on property tax, providing insurance cover for grave diggers and crematoria workers, besides forming a committee to frame rules for collection of improvement charges and conversion of B-khatas to A-khatas.
