Gurgaon: The MCG House on Wednesday approved a Rs 1,875-crore budget for 2026-27, projecting a 25% rise in expenditure compared with Rs 1,497 crore in 2025-26. Expenditure as of Feb 28 is Rs 1,376 crore in the current fiscal. MCG is expecting revenue to grow by 22% to Rs 1,918 crore in the coming financial year. As of Feb 28, MCG earned Rs 1,136.7-crore revenue against Rs 1562.4 crore projected in the current fiscal.The budget, cleared at a special meeting of the House, reflects a significant shift in the corporation’s fiscal priorities, with sharp increases in operational and maintenance spending, modest adjustments in sanitation allocations and near-stagnant development expenditure.MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya said, “Our budget allocations from the last five years are going down. However, our budget is realistic and we want to focus on development.” Despite the expansion in the overall budget, development expenditure remained virtually unchanged, slipping marginally by 0.02%, from Rs 400.1 crore in 2025-26 to Rs 400 crore in 2026-27.Within this segment, the allocation for purchase of land and buildings has been cut sharply by 45.9%, from Rs 111 crore to Rs 60 crore, indicating a slowdown in land acquisition for civic projects. The civic body spent Rs 56.4 crore in the budget head as on Feb 28.However, allocations for some infrastructure works have increased. Road construction spending has been raised by 10% to Rs 110 crore, while funds for sewerage systems, STPs and water supply infrastructure have increased by 7.1% to Rs 75 crore. Investment in street lighting, traffic signals and CCTV infrastructure has seen a significant jump of 50%, rising from Rs 40 crore to Rs 60 crore.The sanitation and solid waste management budget has been increased marginally by 2.5%, from Rs 390 crore to Rs 400 crore. However, the largest component, which is door-to-door waste collection and processing, has been reduced by 19.3%, falling from Rs 310 crore to Rs 250 crore.At the same time, several smaller sanitation heads have recorded steep increases. Spending on hired vehicles, tractors and trolleys has surged by 233.3%, rising from Rs 12 crore to Rs 40 crore, while other sanitation-related expenses have jumped from Rs 1 crore to Rs 15 crore, marking a 1,400% increase.Allocations for mechanical sweeping and cattle management activities have each increased by 25% to Rs 15 crore. Spending on construction and demolition (C&D) waste management remains unchanged at Rs 10 crore.Operational costs continue to account for a growing share of the civic budget. Total operation and maintenance expenditure is set to increase by 26.7%, from Rs 197.3 crore to Rs 250 crore.The biggest component within this category is the purchase of bulk water from GMDA, for which the allocation has increased by 35% to Rs 135 crore. However, the civic body has already spent Rs 241.03 crore on bulk water purchases in the current financial year as of Feb 28, significantly exceeding the previous year’s budget estimate.Maintenance allocations have also seen steep increases. Spending on street lights, traffic signals and CCTV systems has been raised by 257.1%, from Rs 7 crore to Rs 25 crore, while road repair allocations have doubled to Rs 20 crore. Funding for park maintenance has increased by 15.4% to Rs 30 crore, and stormwater drain maintenance has been raised by 25% to Rs 5 crore.On the revenue side, the corporation expects total income to rise to Rs 1,918 crore. Property tax collections are projected to grow by 18.1% to Rs 325 crore, while water and sewerage charges are expected to rise sharply by 60% to Rs 80 crore. Advertisement revenue is also expected to increase by 20% to Rs 120 crore.A substantial portion of the projected revenue increase is expected to come from property monetisation and land-related revenues. Income from sale of municipal houses and shops is projected to increase by 471.4%, rising from Rs 7 crore to Rs 40 crore, while auction of municipal properties is estimated to generate Rs 75 crore, up from Rs 6 crore last year. The sharp projection follows Rs 108 crore earned under this head during the current financial year.
