Bengaluru: The combined city-level budget for 2026-27 points to incremental growth rather than any sharp expansion, suggesting limited fiscal space for new big-ticket projects. Revenue receipts are projected at Rs 20,220.6 crore, a marginal rise from Rs 19,930.6 crore in 2025–26, while expenditure is estimated at Rs 20,216.5 crore, up from Rs 19,927.1 crore.The near parity between income and spending leaves only a small surplus, continuing a long-standing trend in the city’s finances. Revenue receipts have risen steadily from Rs 9,291.3 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 10,484.3 crore in 2022-23, Rs 11,158.4 crore in 2023-24, and Rs 12,371.6 crore in 2024-25. While the trajectory is upward, the increments remain modest, indicating that the city’s fiscal capacity has not expanded significantly. Expenditure trends mirror this gradual rise, increasing from Rs 9,286.8 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 10,480.9 crore in 2022-23, Rs 11,157.8 crore in 2023-24, and Rs 12,369.5 crore in 2024-25. The projections for 2025-26 and 2026-27 continue the same pattern of calibrated increases, pointing to a cautious fiscal approach that prioritises balance over expansion. As a result, annual surpluses have remained negligible. The city recorded a surplus of Rs 4.5 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 2.1 crore in 2024-25, with similar small margins in other years. For 2026-27, the surplus is expected to remain just above Rs 4 crore. Such narrow margins leave little buffer to absorb unforeseen expenditure or to fund large new initiatives.The tight balancing also suggests that most of the available resources are already tied up in committed expenditure. Routine obligations such as salaries, maintenance, and ongoing infrastructure works continue to account for a significant share of spending, limiting flexibility for fresh investments.Across the five zonal corporations, the same approach is evident. Each has drawn up budgets where expenditure closely tracks revenue, resulting in only marginal surpluses.Bengaluru West corporation has the largest outlay, with receipts of Rs 4,732.8 crore and expenditure of Rs 4,732.7 crore. North corporation follows with Rs 4,344 crore in receipts and Rs 4,341.2 crore in spending. East corporation has budgeted Rs 3,890 crore in receipts as against Rs 3,889.9 crore in expenditure, while South corporation has projected Rs 3,826.4 crore and Rs 3,825.9 crore, respectively. The Central corporation, with a relatively smaller budget, has estimated receipts of Rs 3,427.3 crore and expenditure of Rs 3,426.6 crore.Despite it being the first set of budgets after the formation of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), there are no major standalone project announcements across corporations. Officials say infrastructure works will be taken up within existing allocations, with a focus on road development, including ward roads as well as arterial and sub-arterial networks.Overall, the finances reflect discipline and stability, but also underline a key constraint: with revenues and spending tightly matched year after year, the city has limited room to independently scale up large projects without a significant increase in its resource base.
