Mayor clears NMC standing panel’s revised Rs3,469cr budget for 2026-27

Nashik: Mayor Himgauri Aher — during discussions at a special general body meeting — on Monday approved the revised budget of the standing committee of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) for the financial year 2026-27 with a total outlay of Rs3,469.28 crore.The revised budget was presented before the mayor by standing committee chairperson Machhindra Sanap for approval. With the mayor's consent, the standing committee's revised estimates now move a step closer to final adoption. As per procedure, the mayor may further review the budget before giving final approval.Earlier, on March 2, municipal commissioner Manisha Khatri had presented the draft civic budget for the financial year 2026-27 to the standing committee. The original draft had proposed a total expenditure of Rs3,011.85 crore. Following extensive discussions and suggestions from corporators, Sanap revised the estimates, increasing the overall outlay by around Rs455.43 crore.A major portion of the increase has been made in capital expenditure. In her draft budget, Khatri had proposed capital works worth Rs736.96 crore. The standing committee raised this allocation by Rs434.8 crore, taking the total proposed capital expenditure for 2026-27 to Rs 1,171.76 crore. The enhancement is intended to boost infrastructure development in all wards of the city.Revenue expenditure has also been revised. The civic chief had proposed revenue expenses of Rs2,273.04 crore. The standing committee increased this by Rs22.48 crore, taking total revenue expenditure to Rs2,295.52 crore for the next financial year.During the discussions, the standing committee highlighted pending dues of around Rs243.28 crore from state govt, including arrears of local body tax and a one per cent stamp duty surcharge. The municipal administration was instructed to pursue recovery of these dues aggressively to strengthen the civic body's financial position and ensure availability of funds for development works recommended by elected representatives.The committee also pointed out scope for significant improvement in property tax recovery. Outstanding property tax dues are estimated at around Rs500 crore. Although the administration has projected property tax collection of Rs234 crore, members noted that recovery should ideally touch 90%. Effective recovery, they observed, could result in an additional Rs100–125 crore in revenue.Sanap added that income from development charges collected by the town planning department needs to be enhanced. Completion certificates have not been issued for several buildings, and recovery from this segment could yield an additional Rs 114 crore if action is taken promptly.Several corporators, including Gurmit Bagga, Sudhakar Badgujar, Hemlata Patil and others, put forth suggestions aimed at improving the NMC's revenue generation and financial management.After incorporating the suggestions, Aher accorded her approval to the standing committee's revised budget.