MCD Presents ₹17,000-Cr Budget for 2025-26

The commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Ashwini Kumar, on Thursday tabled budget proposals worth ₹17,006 crore for 2025-26, keeping property tax rates unchanged for the financial year 2025-26 despite what he described as a "serious financial crisis".

- Paras Singh

NEW DELHI:

While property tax collections till January 31 have improved, surpassing last year's figures by ₹215 crore as of January 31, the total (₹1,908 crore) remains well below the projected ₹4,300 crore for the current financial year.

While delivering the budget, Kumar warned that MCD is grappling with a very "serious financial crisis" with liabilities of ₹14,000 crore, including pending payments to contractors, employee salaries, retirement benefits, and loan repayments.

He stressed the need for increased revenue, spending cuts, and greater financial support from the Delhi government. "Increasing revenue collections, curbing unnecessary expenses, better use of government funds and increase in the allocation from the (Delhi) government is needed so that sanitation, street, waterlogging can be improved," Kumar said.

According to the MCD budget proposals, the sanitation sector received the highest allocation in the budget, accounting for 28.86% of the total, followed by 20.83% for general administration, 10.78% for public health and medical relief, 9.96% for education, 2.31% for horticulture, 4.62% for development, 3.93% for loan repayment, among other sectors.

The ₹4,907.1 crore allocation for sanitation is an increase from ₹4,305 crore in 2024-25. Development expenses, loan repayments, and horticulture work received smaller allocations.

Kumar tabled the annual budget proposals for 2025-26 and revised budget estimates for 2024-25 before the house of councillors. This is the third consecutive year that the budget has been presented directly in the House due to the AAP-led Delhi government's failure to constitute the key panel, which oversees MCD finances.

The budget presentation was further delayed due to the Model Code of Conduct during the recent Delhi Assembly elections.