Reforms and fiscal management apparently have worked wonders for the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation to remain cut above the rest in the Smart city list nationally. Sound revenue generation has pulled off the coup for the city in the Smart City list.
According to available data with the Union Urban Development Ministry, Bhubaneswar seemingly has scored well in the competitive category of the share of internal revenue to total revenue mobilised by the UlB (Urban local Body). As prudent fiscal management carried a weightage of over 35 percentage of marks, the city scored high to lead the tally. Significantly, the BMC now spends around 50 per cent of its expenses on capital works from its internal revenue, reveals an analysis of the Budgets of the UlB. This tilted the balance for the city.
Moreover, the internal revenue the BMC generates in the form of tax, rent and user charges etc together contribute to around half of its total receipts.
The result: The city raced to the top among the biggies. Bhubaneswar strengthened its pole position among the cities further, as it scored well in the City-level Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) reforms and project completion rate.
Moreover, it’s fancy with electronic governance put it on par with other biggies, as the marks allotted in these categories are not competitive.