The GBA's challenge this year is the dwindling property tax collection (File photo).
With the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) civic elections expected later this year, the Karnataka government is set to pivot towards localised infrastructure and welfare as the city’s five new corporations present their first-ever individual budgets this week.
The collective outlay for the five corporations is estimated at Rs 21,000 crore. This marks a historic departure from the previous unified budget of the now-defunct Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which stood at Rs 19,927 crore for 2025-26.
Though GBA has yet to announce the budget officially, sources say that on 27 March, the East City and Central City Corporations’ budgets will be announced, and on 28 March, the North, West, and South City Corporations’ budgets will be announced.
Each corporation is expected to have an individual outlay of approximately Rs 4,200 crore, a sharp upward revision from early estimates of Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,500 crore, and well above the Rs 3,000 crore ceiling that corporations had initially anticipated. However, this year, the GBA has lagged behind in property tax collection.
In 2024-25, BBMP collected Rs 4,930 crore in property taxes and estimated to collect Rs 6,000 crore in 2025-26. But the property tax collection has reached only Rs 4,000 crore, with less than a month pending.
Among the five corporations, Bengaluru West is expected to receive the largest allocation from the state government, while the East Corporation is projected to receive the least.
“Of the 369 wards under the GBA, the West City Corporation has 112 wards, whereas the East Division has the fewest, with only 50 wards. The allocation will be based on population. Civic elections are also likely to be held soon,” an official said.
A key feature of this year’s budgets will be municipal bonds, with each corporation expected to raise around Rs 100 crore through this route, collectively mobilising up to Rs 500 crore for roads, drainage, and other civic infrastructure.
Officials described this as a meaningful shift away from complete dependence on state grants toward more structured, market-linked financing. The state government has also maintained its annual allocation of Rs 7,000 crore, consistent with last year.
