Budget focuses on developing rejuvenation of river and lakes, electric transport, and sports facilities
Ahmedabad was given a draft budget of Rs 7,509 crore on Tuesday, for the next fiscal year. The budget bore no new tax burden for citizens and its focus was on developing sports facilities, rejuvenation of river and lakes, and electrical transport.
Last year's draft budget was Rs 6,500 crore, in which there has been an increase of Rs 1,009 crore. The final budget was Rs 6,990 crore. Traditionally, the draft budget of a civic body increases by a maximum of Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore, giving the chairman of the standing committee space to introduce the ruling party's version for the city, capping around Rs 400 to Rs 500 crore.
In 2019-20, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) will issue green bonds of Rs 500 crore which has been mentioned as one of the income components. Another income component the civic body has proposed is selling bio-gas. In October 2018, a biogas bottling plant had been inaugurated and the civic body is generating Rs 3 lakh as its monthly income. The project deed is for the next 15 years which is an additional income for the civic body.
Looking at the budget proposal, the city is aiming for sustainable development. There is a proposal for river and lake rejuvenation. Also, there is a proposal for an electrical transportation system as the city aims to supply 1,000 electric buses by 2021 and 30,000 electric rickshaws in the next three years. By December 2019, 350 such electric buses will provide services to the commuters.
Giving vision for the budget, Vijay Nehra, Municipal Commissioner, said that this budget has a five-pointer theme- SMART. "For the budget I've given five pointers- Sustainable, Modern, Affordable, Resilient and Technology-driven which makes the city SMART. Sustainability is the first pillar of development and technology comes later. In my opinion, a smart city is putting people, the environment and the future generations accordingly," said Nehra.
The civic body also wants to set an example for the nation by having electric buses for transportation. "We will inspire other cities. By taking such bold steps of introducing electric buses, we will incentivize the project. Around 1000 buses will be used for both AMTS and BRTs. We have come up with a scheme for the e-rickshaws – policy incentive providing parking space and fee structure. By year-end, there will 2,000 such autos in the city," remarked Nehra. It is to be noted that the Delhi Civic Body owns around 20,000 such autos without investing a single penny.
The civic body is planning to provide 90,000 houses to the lower and middle-income groups. The budget has defined that the city has 90,000 houses in four different verticals, EWS schemes, in-situ slum rehabilitation, affordable houses by the private players and those units which will be re-developed.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BUDGET
BUDGET GAINS
Commissioner's draft budget is Rs 7,509 crore which was an increase of 15% compared to the budget for the year 2018-19. The civic body has increased it's budget for the capital expense by Rs 1,378 crore. The capital budget too increased by more than 50% as compared to 2018-19. The AMC had proposed Rs 2,525 for the developmental work and Rs 3,903.4 crore has been allocated for capital work. However the tally of various head allocation for 2019-20 has been a total of Rs 3910.04 crore which is more than in the proposed budget.
GREEN PUSH GETS FUNDING
AMC to raise Rs500 crore by issuing green bonds to acquire 1,000 electric buses in three years. 350 of these buses would be acquired by December 2019 itself. Five swimming pools, ten gardens in the offing. 100 Water ATMs planned. Rs3.5 crore allocation for providing meals to those living in night shelters. Rs450 crore allocation for wards for balanced development. Rs60 crore earmarked for modernisation of VS Hospital and Chinai Maternity Hospital
DEVELOPMENT IS KEY
Forty existing gymnasiums to be modernised, and five more to be built at a cost of Rs10 crore. Visual Message Displays to be put up at 136 places. Allocation of Rs260 crore for various bridge related works. AMTS and BRTS to be expanded to increase daily ridership from 8 lakh to 10 lakh. Civic body allocates Rs380 crore for various water projects. Rs418 crore allocated for drainage related projects. AMC to generate 25 MW power out of waste. One more wind mill of 4.2 MW to be set up with a cost of Rs33 crore
COMPARISON TO PREVIOUS YEAR
Last year’s draft budget was Rs 6,500 crore, in which there has been an increase of Rs 1,009 crore. The final budget was Rs 6,990 crore. Traditionally, the draft budget of a civic body increases by a maximum of Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore, giving the chairman of the standing committee space to introduce the ruling party’s version for the city, capping around Rs 400 to Rs 500 crore. In October 2018, a biogas bottling plant had been inaugurated and the civic body is generating Rs 3 lakh as its monthly income. The project deed is for the next 15 years which is an additional income for the civic body
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 "Flanked by mayor Bijal Patel and others, AMC commissioner Vijay Nehra announces the draft budget for 2019")
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