Prodded by World Bank, GCC eyes Rs 2,800 cr addl revenue

The cash-starved Greater Chennai Corporation has devised an action plan to generate around Rs 2,800 crore additionally as revenue in the next three years to become eligible for funding from the World Bank.

As per the Chennai City Partnership Programme, the World Bank, along with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), has agreed to allocate funds to the tune of around Rs 50,000 crore to implement various civic projects to be implemented by the Corporation, Metro Water, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) and other agencies.

However, the World Bank would release the allocated fund only if the civic body starts generating revenue from its own source. Prodded by this condition, the Corporation mandated a private consultant who submitted a detailed plan to the Corporation Commissioner, which was approved on June 28 by the Corporation council by way and the Corporation Council adopted a resolution approving the report on June 28. “The report will be submitted to the State government for approval. The civic body can generate its own revenue of Rs 2,800 crore if the recommendations are followed,” an official source told DT Next. Presently, the civic body is able to generate less than Rs 1,500 crore annually, of which property tax collection is the major contributor.

One of the action plans that the report recommended is identifying under-assessed buildings for property tax and reassessing it using the GIS technology. The report also pointed out that while collating data from Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) several commercial buildings have been assessed as residential buildings.

“Property tax should be increased by reassessing such buildings as commercial buildings. To increase property tax collection, special drives should be conducted to collect tax from May and July. The process of issuing trade licenses should be made easier to increase the revenue,” the report added.

Revenue can be generated through allowing advertisements on lampposts maintained by the civic body and implementing the parking management system, the report recommended.