Deficit budget in Tiruppur for first time in four years

Tiruppur Corporation on Wednesday saw the presentation of a deficit budget for the financial year 2022-23 for the first time in four years, with the deficit pegged at ₹ 10.08 crore.

This is the first budget presented by Mayor N. Dinesh Kumar and the first budget to be presented before elected councillors of the Corporation in five years. According to the budget for 2022-23, the total revenue was estimated as ₹ 1,558.55 crore and the total expenditure for this period was estimated to be ₹ 1,568.63 crore.

As per the budget details available in the Corporation’s website, a deficit budget was presented for 2017-18, wherein the deficit was estimated as ₹ 7.88 crore. In the subsequent four years (2018-29, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22), the Corporation presented surplus budgets.

In his budget speech, Mr. Dinesh Kumar said that 74% of the works to improve drinking water supply under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) have been completed and that the water supply would be streamlined step-by-step towards ensuring daily supply of drinking water. Around 72% of the first phase of the underground drainage works under AMRUT programme has been completed and a detailed project report for the second phase is being prepared, the Mayor said.

Out of the 28 proposed works under the Smart Cities Mission in the city worth ₹ 985.07 crore, 10 works have been completed so far and the remaining will be completed by March 2023, he said. To improve the Corporation’s revenue collection, un-assessed and under-assessed properties will be brought under the property tax net and unauthorised water connections will be regularised in Tiruppur, according to Mr. Dinesh Kumar.

Meanwhile, the AIADMK councillors wore black badges to the budget session at the Corporation headquarters in Tiruppur condemning the recent hike in property tax for all the urban local bodies by the DMK government. Subsequently, councillors from the AIADMK and the BJP staged a walkout from the Council Hall, sources said.