Patna: The Patna Municipal Corporation approved a Rs 3,043-crore budget for 2026–27 on Saturday, projecting a Rs 456-crore surplus driven by higher revenues and planned fund mobilisation through bonds and taxes. The budget, passed amid uproar during a special board meeting, marks an increase of Rs 189 crore over last year’s Rs 2,854-crore outlay.Of the total budget, Rs 702.02 crore will be provided by the Centre and Rs 1,095 crore by the state govt. The PMC expects to generate Rs 608 crore from its own resources, while the remaining amount will come from municipal bonds and tax revenues.Presided over by mayor Sita Sahu, the meeting approved a financial roadmap prioritising 24 projects aligned with the state govt’s seven resolves scheme. Based on current estimates, the corporation projected total receipts of Rs 3,499 crore.Municipal commissioner Yashpal Meena said a key project outlined in the budget is the Rs 514-crore integrated solid waste management system, scheduled to become operational by the end of 2028. For this, 23 acres of land at Ramachak Bairiya have been cleared.Meena also said the PMC plans to monetise smart city assets and develop 31 vending zones to regulate street vending. While provisions have been made for clearing arrears of retired employees, several ward councillors opposed the budget during the session.Among major urban development projects is the redevelopment of New Market near Patna Junction into a G+3 shopping complex to remove encroachments. To finance such initiatives, the corporation plans to issue municipal bonds worth Rs 200 crore in April, which would make PMC the first municipal body in Bihar to do so.Infrastructure-related proposals include the installation of button-operated pedestrian traffic signals near the Patna Zoo and 82,000 IoT-enabled street lights that adjust automatically to natural light levels.Waste management plans feature six garbage transfer stations with a combined daily capacity of 500 tonnes, along with a 15-megawatt waste-to-energy plant at Ramachak Bairiya.Social and digital initiatives include expansion of the Pink Toilet campaign, open gyms in 26 parks, and digitisation of birth and death certificates.The corporation also plans to modernise traditional dhobi ghats, renovate electric crematoriums and introduce a ‘Swarg Rath’ funeral transport service. Entry gates will be constructed at major access points, and new landscaping projects will be taken up across the city.The meeting was attended by the municipal commissioner, the additional municipal commissioner, members of the standing committee and ward councillors.Ward councillors Indradeep Chandravanshi and Ashish Sinha alleged financial irregularities and concealment of data, questioning a Rs218-crore gap in salary funding and the inclusion of the defunct DAY-NULM scheme as a budget source.Chandravanshi said, “By planning expenditures far beyond the estimated income, the financial health of the corporation is being compromised.” Despite demands for a high-level investigation into the alleged discrepancies, the meeting was concluded prematurely.
