Analysing municipal budgets in context to infrastructure financing
With increasing number of people living in cities, urban local bodies in India are under tremendous pressure to manage urban growth. Also, adequate and assured funds are necessary to provide sufficient, efficient and well maintained infrastructure. However, most cities in India are facing fiscal stress, and sometimes have limited options to raise revenue. Insufficient revenue, low expenditure pattern, low revenue basis, inadequate finance sources and instruments, etc. are some key challenges of related to municipal infrastructure. Due to this, our cities face large infrastructure gaps exists in our cities and are often unable to carry out required O&M. With this background, the DRP emphasis the need to strengthen financial capacities of municipalities, and identify reasons for inadequate revenue generation or expenditure pattern. By taking up case studies of various cities (small, medium and large), this DRP is expected to serve as input for improving infrastructure financing capacity for improving the living conditions in Indian towns and cities.
