The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) tentative internal revenue figures (till March 31), for the financial year 2022-23, show a 22.77% increase from the previous year with the current figure standing at ₹8,900 crore.
MCD officials said that this year’s collection figures are higher than that of 2019-20, which stood at ₹7,413 crore – an increase by 20.05%. However, the civic body fell short on achieving its target for 2022-23, which stood at ₹11,280.36 crore.
Better than pre-COVID times
“The improvement in revenue collection does not make us self-sufficient. We will still need external revenue sources to help us pay salaries and pensions. However, the positive part is that the collection is better than that of the pre-COVID 19 period,” said an MCD official.
Of the revenue sources that contribute the highest chunk is property tax, which stands at ₹2,409.51 crore while the civic body’s target stood at ₹3,850 crore. The latest figures show an increase by 19.60% in comparison to the 2021-22 figures (₹2,014.68 crore), and 46.88% increase in comparison to the 2019-20 figures (₹1,640.50 crore).
“Most of the best performing administrative zones, for internal revenue collection, are those that were under the erstwhile South Delhi Municipal Corporation,” said the MCD official.
A senior MCD official said that the slight improvement in property tax collection was also fuelled by amnesty schemes, including those for unauthorised colonies that contributed close to ₹10 crore in the overall collection.
Apart from property tax, revenue generated through advertisement stood at ₹225.69 crore – with its target being ₹300 crore – and toll tax at ₹801.40 crore while the target stood at ₹786 crore.
“The overall target for 2023-24 stands at ₹11,273 crore. However, the previous trends show that we do not achieve the projected target. If we are to pay salaries and pensions solely based on our internal revenue, then it will cost us ₹774.83 crore every month. This would cost us over ₹9,000 crore every year. In the current scenario, this would not be possible,” said the MCD official.
