Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation Tables ₹988 Crore Budget With Focus On Digitalisation & Sustainability

The Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) commissioner and administrator Manisha Awhale presented a ₹988.72 crore budget for the financial year 2025-26 on Monday, along with a proposal for an increase in water taxes. The budget focuses on revenue generation, disciplined expenditure, smart infrastructure, digitalization, environmental sustainability, and gender parity.

Awhale highlighted five key priorities for the 2025-26 budget: water tax hikes, revenue growth, disciplined spending, environmental sustainability, and smart infrastructure. Additionally, UMC aims to enhance public transport, improve municipal schools, implement welfare schemes for women, senior citizens, and individuals with special needs, strengthen e-office administration, and ensure quality civic works.

For 2025-26, the estimated revenue expenditure is ₹575.02 crore, while the capital expenditure is projected at ₹382.97 crore. The civic administration plans to use these funds to support Thane's long-term growth. In 2024-25, UMC had prepared a budget of ₹977.64 crore.

Awhale stated, "The budget has been prepared considering income sources, government subsidies, the Fifteenth Finance Commission, infrastructure projects, the Amrit Yojana, and the Swachh Bharat Mission."

Revenue Sources

UMC anticipates total income of ₹988.72 crore in 2025-26, sourced from:

Property tax: ₹120.41 crore

Water tax: ₹72.25 crore

MRTP recovery: ₹82.13 crore

Various grants: ₹286.53 crore

Other grants and income: ₹246.45 crore

Expenditure Breakdown

UMC’s total expenditure is estimated as follows:

Salaries, wages, and pensions: ₹225.34 crore

MIDC payments: ₹51 crore

Education: ₹50 crore

Loan repayment: ₹13.38 crore

Electricity expenses: ₹13 crore

Other revenue expenditures: ₹235.68 crore

Capital expenditure: ₹369.58 crore

Extraordinary accounts: ₹30.19 crore

Smart Infrastructure Initiatives

UMC has allocated funds for smart city projects, including:

Smart roads: ₹7 crore

Smart chowks and junctions: ₹2 crore

Smart schools: ₹8 crore

Libraries: ₹1.5 crore

Smart primary health centers: ₹2 crore

Smart toilets: ₹6.5 crore

Smart crematoriums: ₹1.5 crore

Smart gardens: ₹4.5 crore

Smart parking: ₹2 crore

Smart Divyang Bhawan: ₹2 crore

Pet clinic: ₹50 lakh

Environmental Sustainability Measures

UMC has allocated:

15th Finance Commission projects: ₹8 crore

Electric buses: ₹4 crore

Vasundhara Project: ₹1.5 crore

Solar energy projects: ₹1 crore

LED streetlights: ₹3.5 crore

Garden and nursery development: ₹6.5 crore

Sewage Treatment Plant (STP): ₹5 crore

Water meters: ₹1.5 crore

Gender Parity Initiatives

Women and child welfare schemes: ₹10.76 crore

Support for transgender individuals: ₹50 lakh

Major Infrastructure Projects

UMC aims to secure funding from MMRDA for:

An elevated flyover from Shantinagar to Sai Baba Temple (₹554 crore)

The concretization of eight major city roads (₹99 crore)