MCD presents Rs 17,000-cr budget, highest allocation for sanitation

According to budget estimates, MCD will earn Rs 16,701 crore in financial year 2026, an increase from this year’s Rs 15,686 crore. It is expected to incur an expenditure of Rs 17,002 crore, an increase from Rs 16,684 this year.

The allocation for education saw a jump from Rs 1,609 crore to Rs 1,693 crore for the following year. The MCD runs 1,531 primary schools, 43 grant-aided schools, and 809 recognized schools.

Also, Rs 3 crore was allocated for building stadiums and sports grounds.

Allocation for the health sector saw a decrease from Rs 2,061 crore to Rs 1,833 crore.

The expenditure for sanitation, meanwhile, witnessed a massive increase of over Rs 300 crore — a jump from Rs 4,593 crore to Rs 4,907 crore.

The budget allocated Rs 25 crore each to set up bio-methanisation plants at Nangli Sakrawati and Goyla Dairy. It also proposed to start work on a 3,600-tonne per day waste-to-energy plant at Narela Bawana and a 3,000-tonne per day plant at Ghazipur. They are expected to become operational in December 2027 and 2028, respectively, following which, the MCD claimed, there will be no need to send waste to landfills.

While the budget proposed a 50-tonne per day capacity Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for plastic waste disposal in Dwarka, three bio-CBG/CNG plants are set to come up in Okhla, Ghogha Dairy and Ghazipur, to process 750 metric tonnes of vegetative waste daily.

Of the Rs 4,300 crore target for 2024-25, only Rs 1,908.06 crore or less than half in property tax revenue has been collected till January this year.

Also, while income from property tax is expected to decrease to Rs 4,000 crore the following year, income from advertisement is supposed to go up from Rs 300 crore to Rs 800 crore.

The budget sanctioned Rs 37 crore to develop Rawta and Daurala villages in Najafgarh as model villages.