A record: MC earns Rs 834 cr revenue in FY24-25, 18% up from previous fiscal

In a record of sorts, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC) has collected the revenue of Rs 834 crore from different heads during the recently ended financial year 2024-25, which was the highest-ever collection and almost 18 per cent more than Rs 708 crore revenue receipts recorded in 2023-24, officials have said.

While the major hike in revenue collections was recorded from property tax receipts, which had touched the highest-ever amount of Rs 154 crore, a jump of almost 12 per cent than Rs 138 crore collected during 2023-24, the maximum shortfall of Rs 120 crore in the income was attributed to non-refund of VAT/ GST by the government for the last fiscal as yet.

With this, the MC’s overall revenue receipts of 2024-25 fell almost 15 per cent short of the revised estimates of Rs 977 crore fixed in the Budget for the previous financial year. It was due to a shortfall in collections from eight of the total 13 revenue heads in Ludhiana, popularly known as Manchester of India, spread over 169 sq km area with a population of 16.18 lakh as per the 2011 Census.

Sharing the final revenue receipt figures, MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal told The Tribune here on Thursday that the property tax collections recorded in the last fiscal were highest-ever in the history of the civic body with the overall revenue receipts in 2024-25 going 18 per cent up from 2023-24 despite the non-receipt of entire VAT/ GST refund, besides deficit in the collection of some other heads as well.

He said the 2023-24 Budget estimates had put a record estimate of Rs 140 crore collection from the property tax, which was almost 8 per cent up and above the Budget provision of Rs 130 crore kept in 2023-24 but the sustained campaign to achieve maximum collections had helped breach all past records of property tax receipts with the record high of Rs 154 crore collection from this head.

Dachalwal said another head that created a record of sorts by logging the highest-ever collection was Rs 37 crore from building fee/ building regularisation fee, which was a whopping 270 per cent rise from Rs 10 crore estimated in Budget provisions and Rs 8 crore more collection from this head than 2023-24.

Also, the receipt of Rs 32 crore from municipal tax of 2 per cent on the electricity consumption, under which a sum of Rs 28 crore was collected in 2023-24, saw an increase of 28 per cent over Rs 25 crore estimated collection provisioned in the Budget.

However, the other eight heads, which recorded less collection than the proposed estimates in the Budget for 2024-25, were water supply, VAT/ GST refund, composition fee, development/change of land use charges, advertisement tax, additional excise duty, rent/ tehbazari, sale of property and other miscellaneous sources.

Though these heads registered lower collections than the respective Budget estimates, the receipts under the rest five accounts were recorded highest ever and much more than the collections made in 2023-24.

Among them, the receipts from licence fee touched Rs 12.6 crore, building fees/ building regularisation fees Rs 37 crore, municipal tax on electricity consumption crossed Rs 32 crore, and the property tax collections touched the highest-ever Rs 154 crore mark.

While two heads — rent and tehbazari and development/change of land use — registered lower collections in the last fiscal than 2023-24, rest all 11 heads logged higher receipts in 2024-25 than 2023-24.

What helped

A sustained campaign to collect taxes, motivating residents to pay levies, facilitating collections through online platforms, keeping collection centres open even during public holidays and last but not the least, issuing stern warning to attach properties and initiating legal proceedings against defaulters had helped the civic body to achieve the record collections under property tax and other three heads in the financial year 2024-25.

Up & down

While the total revenue receipts of Rs 833.71 crore were 85.36 per cent of the Budget estimates of Rs 976.7 crore, the collections in 2024-25 were 18 per cent higher than Rs 707.83 crore earned in 2023-24.