Greater Bengaluru Authority unveils ₹7,977 crore interim budget for city corporations

The newly formed Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has projected a ₹7,977.8 crore interim budget to keep civic operations running across five city corporations until March 2026.

The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has rolled out an interim consolidated budget projection of ₹7,977.8 crore for the period from September 2025 to March 2026, covering all five city corporations, East, West, North, Central, and South. This short-term projection aims to maintain uninterrupted civic services during the transition period until each corporation prepares and approves its own independent budget.

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The GBA’s estimates peg total receipts at ₹7,977.8 crore against payments of ₹7,972.6 crore, leaving a slender closing balance of ₹5.1 crore for the six-month period. Among the five corporations, East tops the allocation list with ₹1,766 crore, followed by West at ₹1,710.6 crore, North at ₹1,599.6 crore, Central at ₹1,478.4 crore, and South at ₹1,423.2 crore.

The interim budget outlines indicative allocations under key civic heads such as administration, health, education, welfare, solid waste management, and town planning. Public works have been allotted the highest outlay at ₹2,497.8 crore, followed by town planning and regulation at ₹2,071.9 crore, and solid waste management at ₹403.4 crore, signalling a continued focus on infrastructure and basic civic amenities.

However, the newly formed corporations face limited flexibility in expenditure. Projects and tenders sanctioned by the former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) or the state government cannot be altered. A significant portion of the funds will go toward clearing pending bills from ongoing works, while scope for new projects remains narrow until independent budgets are finalised and approved by the GBA administrator by December.

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To ease the administrative transition, GBA has reallocated ₹613 crore of existing BBMP funds among the five corporations, ₹156 crore to West, ₹123 crore to South, ₹116 crore to Central, ₹110 crore to North, and ₹108 crore to East. Officials clarified that this is not a new grant but a redistribution to help the corporations meet immediate operational needs.

As of now, most corporations are grappling with fund constraints, with a bulk of their allocations tied up in salaries, maintenance, and pending bills. The focus is now shifting toward revenue generation to enable financial independence. Authorities across zones are expected to assess new revenue sources before committing to fresh expenditure, prioritising essential works like road repairs, streetlights, footpaths, parks, and public awareness campaigns.

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