Vizag set for infra boost as GVMC clears Rs 4,180 crore budget for FY 2026-27

Visakhapatnam: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), at its council meeting on Wednesday, approved a budget of ₹4,180 crore for 2026–27, marking an increase of nearly ₹500 crore over last year's revised outlay of ₹3,704 crore.The largest allocation goes to engineering works (₹1,028 crore), followed by public health (₹455 crore), AMRUT scheme expenditure (₹363 crore), water supply (₹260 crore), finance commission funds (₹200 crore), lighting (₹129 crore), and parks, leisure and cemeteries (₹36 crore). Notably, the previous year saw a shortfall of nearly ₹900 crore, with the revised budget falling to ₹3,704 crore against the proposed estimate of ₹4,762 crore.Mayor P Srinivasa Rao said it was a matter of pride for Visakhapatnam to host several major events in 2025–26, including International Yoga Day celebrations attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "With the city witnessing rapid growth, the budget was prepared keeping in mind its aspirations and needs. Considerable effort went into arriving at the figures through consultations with departments and detailed estimates for each sector," he said.CPM corporator Ganga Rao alleged that the corporation was blindly following the directions of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. "GVMC spends tens of crores on programmes organised by the state govt in Visakhapatnam, but the promised reimbursements are never received. Professional tax collected from the people is paid to the state govt, while budget projections are almost double the actual receipts. This misleads the public and turns the budget into a ‘game of numbers'," Ganga Rao said.Jana Sena corporator P Murthy Yadav questioned under which budget head GVMC had issued ₹25,000 gift coupons to each corporator ahead of the session. "Coupons were distributed to about 300 people, including GVMC officials, with officials receiving more than corporators. It was nothing but misuse of public funds that tarnished the corporation's image," he alleged.GVMC commissioner Ketan Garg said the proposals were prepared on realistic estimates. He explained that the corporation had two options — either to frame a budget based on the city's needs and aspirations or to align it with actual earnings and receipts. "This year, GVMC chose the latter approach to present a budget closer to real figures and more transparent in nature," he said.