Municipalities should give top priority to sustaining themselves financially by augmenting resources, according to the Telangana State Finance Commission (SFC).

Speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of a workshop on municipal finances and service delivery in urban local bodies in Telangana organised at the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) here on Tuesday, G Rajesham Goud, Chairman, the first SFC of Telangana said all new municipalities will be self-supportive.

“There are many taxes which are not being levied in many places and all these sources could be utilised for sustaining themselves,” he said.

The first SFC of Telangana has been constituted recently by the State government for the award period of 2020-2025.

The Commission will play a key role in inter-governmental transfer of resources from State to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Rural Local Bodies (RLBs).

Study

It will also outline recommendations for improving the financial position of ULBs and service delivery standards in cities and towns of the State. According to a study conducted by ASCI, the estimated additional requirement of 73 ULBs including Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has been pegged at ₹40,720 crore over five years.

It also called for significant reforms to address financial needs and improvement of service delivery in ULBs. They included coverage and collection efficiency of property tax, vacant land tax and other non-tax revenues, land monetisation measures and promoting public private partnership for amenable municipal infrastructure areas, among others.

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