The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) runs revenue deficits, meaning that the revenues are not sufficient to take care of its routine expenditure. The MC recently announced a Rs. 2,114 crore budget for 2025-26, the bulk (Rs. 1704 cr) of which is projected as a grant in aid from the Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh. As the UT administration has already earmarked only Rs. 625 cr as grants for the MC, there is likely to be a considerable gap of Rs. 1,079 cr in funds required for expenditure.

The revenue receipts will not be sufficient to take care of the committed revenue expenditure of Rs. 1,200 cr. It is not clear how the projected Rs. 467 cr of capital expenditure will be met.

The MC's proposals to improve own revenues such as increasing property tax, sewage cess, were rejected by the council. The present mayoris from the BJP- the term of the mayor is 1 year. The Mayor won with 19 votes from the BJP as against 17 votes from the Congress AAP. As the BJP has only 16 representatives in the house, the cross voting from the opposition side helped it to win a majority. As you can see, the council is a very contentious place.

The MC showed some initiative in getting private sponsors to bear the cost of its prestigious annual Rose festival. The Rs. 60 lakh expense was collected from sponsors in return for advertising space at the event. Additionally, the food and game zone at the event was auctioned.

Kudos to the MC to think of such private financing in the middle of its troubles- way to go!