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.