Municipal budgets in India - Comparison across five cities

Budgets reflect the calibre of planning and the priorities of municipal cor porations. Analysis of municipal budgets is a means to determine the extent to which poor quality of services is a result of inadequate availability a nd inefficient use of resources by city agencies. With increased focus on d ecentralisation and devolution of funds, more attention should be paid to t he analysis of municipal budgets. This article makes a comparative study of the municipal budgets of five large cities in India - Ahmedabad, Bangalore , Chennai, Mumbai and Pune - over a six-year period of time, giving useful insights into resource mobilisation and utilisation, allocation patterns an d trends important sources of revenue and in expenditure on important secto rs across cities.