PMC likely to present 'feel-good' budget.

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation is likely to present a 'feel-good' annual budget in the wake of the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections this year.

Municipal commissioner Mahesh Pathak will present the draft budget for 2014-15 before the standing committee on Friday, raising speculations that civic revenue generation may take a hit owing to the populist approach likely to be adopted by politicians.

The civic budget crossed the Rs 4,000-crore level for the first time last year when the general body approved Rs 4,167.5-crore budget for the 2013-14 fiscal. Octroi, property tax and development charges were the main sources of revenue for the PMC then. However, the civic body replaced octroi with Local Body Tax (LBT) in April this year and since then LBT department is putting efforts to match octroi revenue.

"The political parties have already made it clear that they will oppose any tax hike. Also, the plan to impose additional general tax has been rejected by the standing committee. Therefore, the civic body will have to complete the pending projects within the limited budget," said one of the civic officials.

While presenting his draft budget last year, municipal commissioner Mahesh Pathak had said with limited revenue generation and restricted resources, there is pressure on the civic body to develop infrastructure to match the growth.

"The administration has also considered the election code-of-conduct period while preparing the budget. With the LS and state assembly elections on cards, time period to implement the budget will be limited, The PMC has insisted on completing ongoing projects instead of starting new ones within the available budget," said a civic officer.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com