CAG notes dip in tax income of Higher Chennai Company

The Higher Chennai Company was in a position to generate solely 53% of its personal income between 2015-2016 and 2019-2020, based on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor-Basic of India for the yr ended March 2020. The report was positioned earlier thanthe State Meeting on Thursday.

Stressing the necessity for fiscal autonomy and the discharge of grant from the State and the Centre with none delay, the report mentioned the expenditure incurred by all city native our bodies, together with the GCC, in direction of programmes in accordance with the scheme works has confirmed a reducing development and has come down from 23.66% in 2016-2017 to simply 15.25% in 2019-2020.

The borrowing of the Higher Chennai Company stoodat 10% of its income in the course of the interval. Of the whole personal supply of revenue of ₹26,659 crore for city native our bodies within the State within the interval, the Company has reported a tax income of ₹5,540 crore, non-tax income of ₹1,918 crore, assigned income of ₹571 crore and miscellaneous revenue of ₹2,582 crore.

The opposite firms within the State had a tax income of simply ₹3,595 crore out of ₹7,335 crore whole personal supply income. Municipalities reported a tax income of ₹2,358 crore out of ₹5,378 crore and city panchayats reported a tax income of ₹1,002 crore out of ₹3,335 crore whole personal supply of revenue.

The report mentioned city native our bodies within the State have been in a position to generate solely 41% of their very own income and have been extra depending on the fiscal transfers from the federal government grants, which shaped a good portion of the income, averaging 40%, throughout 2015-16 to 2019-20. The city panchayats have been primarily depending on fiscal transfers to the extent of 65% as they generated solely 27% of their very own income.

Of the income of ₹65,508 crore for all city native our bodies within the State in the course of the interval, ₹4,076 crore has been obtained by way of mortgage.

Audit scrutiny revealed that the efficiency grants of ₹322 crore for the yr 2016-17 was launched on due date in February 2017. However for subsequent years, the efficiency grant of ₹1,323 crore wasnot launched by the Centre regardless of fulfilment of all of the eligibility standards by the city native our bodies. It’s pertinent to notice that the State authorities had taken up the non-release of efficiency grants with the Union authorities in April 2018 and in August 2019, however no quantity was launched until September 2021.

Non-release of efficiency grants to the city native our bodies tantamount to deprivation of much-needed monetary sources to the city native our bodies, the report mentioned.