Rs1,392cr dues off target, NMC eyes only Rs749cr property tax

Nagpur: Even as the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has rolled out a Rs749.82 crore property tax collection target for 2026-27, a glaring gap in its own numbers has raised serious concerns — Rs1,392 crore in arrears has been kept out of the recovery plan.Official data accessed by TOI shows that the total pending property tax arrears stand at Rs1,919 crore. However, the civic body has chosen to include only Rs 526.85 crore — barely 27% of the total arrears — in this year's recovery target. The remaining Rs 1,392 crore has effectively been left out, significantly diluting the scale of the exercise.Senior officials confirmed that dues from govt properties, mobile towers and cases pending in courts have not been factored into the annual demand. "These components are difficult to recover immediately, so they are not included in the yearly target," an official said, effectively admitting that a large chunk of revenue remains outside active enforcement.The NMC's total demand of Rs749.82 crore includes Rs526.85 crore arrears and Rs222.96 crore current demand spread across over 10.5 lakh properties. But the exclusion of Rs1,392 crore means the actual liability is nearly 2.5 times higher than what the civic body plans to recover this year.Among zones, Ashi Nagar tops the list with Rs146.87 crore, followed by Mangalwari (Rs111.53 crore) and Laxmi Nagar (Rs98.44 crore). Despite these substantial figures, officials admit that high-value, complex arrears remain largely untouched.The decision to leave such a massive portion of arrears has triggered concerns over selective enforcement and weak financial planning. While residential and small commercial property owners are routinely issued notices and penalties, bulk defaulters — including institutional and govt entities — continue to remain outside the immediate recovery net.Civic activists argue that this approach undermines tax equity. "Why should ordinary citizens bear the burden while thousands of crores remain uncollected from powerful defaulters?" questioned a former corporator.The quarterly targets further expose structural issues. Of the Rs749.82 crore target, Rs281.18 crore (38%) is expected in the fourth quarter, indicating a continued reliance on last-minute drives. This pattern has previously resulted in rushed recoveries and inflated end-of-year figures, rather than sustained enforcement.With infrastructure demands rising and departments already grappling with budget constraints, excluding Rs1,392 crore from active recovery could significantly strain NMC's finances. Key civic services — including road maintenance, drainage upgrades and water supply — depend heavily on property tax revenue.The numbers raise a fundamental question: Is NMC setting achievable targets — or avoiding difficult recoveries? Unless the civic body expands its enforcement net to include the missing Rs 1,392 crore, the property tax system risks remaining a diluted exercise, where targets are met on paper while real dues continue to pile up.