Vijayawada Municipal Corporation council passes revised Rs 1,518 crore budget

Vijayawada: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) Council passed the annual budget with a revised outlay of Rs 1,518.13 crore for the 2026–27 financial year, with revenue receipts and capital expenditure estimated at Rs 1,643.65 crore for the same period. Earlier, the Council presented a proposed annual budget of Rs 2,093.65 crore, covering both revenue and capital expenditure.However, this was later revised to Rs 1,643.65 crore after ruling party council members, led by the YSRCP, unanimously rejected the proposed Rs 450 crore capital expenditure from VMC funds for the construction of the Rs 600 crore stormwater drain project, which was planned to be taken up under the PPP model.The VMC Council, which met under the chairmanship of VMC Mayor Rayana Bhagya Lakshmi, also gave its approval for the revised budget for the 2025–26 financial year on Tuesday. The YSRCP, the ruling party in the VMC Council, successfully presented the last and fifth consecutive civic budget in as many years, with its term due to end on March 17.A war of words ensued between the ruling YSRCP and opposition NDA council members over the proposed Rs 450 crore capital expenditure, along with the Rs 150 crore grant-in-aid promised by the AP CRDA for the development of the Rs 600 crore stormwater drain project.VMC Commissioner HM Dhyanchandra clarified that while the AP CRDA and VMC allocate Rs 150 crore each, the remaining Rs 300 crore would be spent by the concessionaire under the PPP model, to which the civic body will make payments to the private developer on an annuity basis, the modalities of which are yet to be framed.Strongly objecting to the PPP model development of stormwater drains in Vijayawada city, Mayor Rayana Bhagya Lakshmi introduced a resolution scrapping topics 70 and 72 in the budget allocations, to the tune of Rs 450 crore, made for the PPP model development of stormwater drains under the capital expenditure estimates, and approved the budget with the revised estimates.