Chennai: The Greater Chennai Corporation expects to run up a deficit of Rs 104.21 crore in 2016-17 even as the local body increased its spending past the Rs 5,000 crore mark for the first time.
At the budget session held at Ripon Buildings council hall on Thursday, Finance and Taxation Committee chairman S. Santhanam, submitted that the local body would spend Rs 5123.51 crore and that its expected revenue was Rs 5019.30 crore. Of this, the local body expects to earn Rs 951.60 crore through taxation.
Tondiarpet (Zone 4), which houses Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency, has been allocated the highest amount to spend at Rs 94.39 crore while Manali (Zone 2) had the lowest allocation at Rs 27.04 crore.
Stormwater drains department, as expected, received the most funds to spend with Rs 415 crore, followed by bus route roads department with Rs 236.38 crore.
Education, health and solid waste management received around Rs 4 crore each while bridges department was given Rs 100 crore and another Rs 130 crore given to special projects.
The corporation expects to spend more on staff salaries this year with Rs 1,022.04 crore allocated, up from Rs 888.50 crore per revised estimates of 2015-16. Interest sums paid on loans too have topped last fiscal’s revised estimates with the local body apportioning Rs 138.15 crore for the purpose this year up from Rs 48.67 crore.
Operation and maintenance expenses received higher allocation this year after the corporation spent Rs 959 crore rectifying damage to its infrastructure in 2015.
Since 2014-15, this figure has risen from Rs 369 crore to the Rs 630 crore initially allocated for 2015-16 and for 2016-17, the local body has set aside Rs 798 crore. However, the corporation will continue to borrow more from government and international lending institutions as well as private sector banks.
