The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is drawing up a contingency plan to meet its financial commitments as it continues to provide essential services to citizens during the lockdown.
The civic body is incurring expenditure on several essential services such as sanitation, water supply, street-lighting and sanitising measures which are being accorded top priority.
Among major outflows are the salaries of outsourced workers, electricity bills, petrol and diesel bills and expenses on sanitation vehicles. Salaries of workers alone total around ₹10 crore.
Of the electricity bill of ₹6 crore, water supply pumping alone costs between ₹3.5 to ₹4.5 crore. Besides, the COVID-19 related expenditure on chemicals and other materials is expected to cost ₹2 crore. The GVMC needs another ₹4 crore for debt-servicing.
Sources say that the monthly expenditure comes to around ₹40 to ₹45 crore.
Payments under several important heads made to GVMC are channelled via the Comprehensive Financial Management System of the State Government.
On an average, GVMC earns a revenue of around ₹50 crore a month, including payments made for building plan approvals, Building Penalisation Scheme, stamps and registration and other online payments, say sources. The civic body can continue to manage its resources if at least ₹20 crore of its share comes from the State Government, sources said.
Businesses have come to a halt owing to the lockdown, and the revenue to come from the State is unlikely to materialise at least for the next three months, necessitating the drawing up of a financial contingency plan, sources said.
Hence, it is now heavily dependent upon the bulk and semi-bulk water charges of around ₹15 crore paid to it every month. Besides, using the 5% rebate on property tax if paid for the entire 2020-21 financial year, the corporation wants to mop up at least ₹10 crore to ₹15 crore, sources said. Economising on expenditure is also on the cards, it is learnt.
