No increase in any tax rate, stress on completion of long pending projects apart from cleanliness, health, education, environment and beautification of the satellite city were the highlights of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) budget presented on Wednesday. The Rs 4,950 Crore surplus budget for 2024-25 will not require sanction of the general body for the fourth consecutive year since the civic body has not witnessed any elections since 2020.
"Top priority to citizens by not increasing any tax"
Presenting the budget, NMMC Commissioner Rajesh Narvekar said that the civic body has given top priority to the citizens by not increasing any tax. “This is a practical and welfare-oriented budget wherein major thrust has been laid on cleanliness, environment, transportation and social welfare schemes. The ongoing projects will be speeded up and completed in time without compromising on the quality,” Narvekar said.
The projects planned include the long-pending Ghansoli-Airoli creek bridge while addition of new electric buses, a Swacchata Park and upgradation of fire infrastructure are the salient feature of the budget.
On water shortage and property tax
Stating that the Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) survey initiated by NMMC to identify properties not on record has been completed, Narvekar said that it will help the civic body achieve target of ₹800-crore property tax this financial year that will increase to ₹900 crore in the next fiscal.
On water shortage being faced by the city, the Municipal Commissioner said, “Some water is being given to other cities for infrastructure development, since they don’t have a source of water like NMMC. Around 40 mld of treated water would be supplied to industries by the end of the next financial year from Navi Mumbai’s tertiary treatment plants, thereby saving potable water. With future water requirements likely to increase from 500 mld to 950 mld, the civic body has already approached the government to source more water from the Bhira Hydroelectric project, Patalganga river water, and Kundalika river water.”
