Bengaluru’s newly carved civic bodies presented their maiden budgets on Friday, March 27, offering a first glimpse into how governance under the Greater Bengaluru Authority will shape everyday life in the city. The Bengaluru East City Corporation and Bengaluru Central City Corporation unveiled their 2026–27 plans on Friday, while the remaining three corporations are set to present their budgets on Saturday, March 28.
The budgets follow the state government’s decision to dissolve the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and replace it with the Greater Bengaluru Authority, splitting the city into five corporations in a bid to decentralise administration and improve service delivery in a rapidly growing urban sprawl.
While the budgets promise better roads, faster approvals and improved services, they also point to a phase of sustained disruption as multiple infrastructure projects are rolled out simultaneously.
Focus on infrastructure and decongestion
A significant portion of both budgets focuses on road infrastructure and decongestion, particularly in traffic-heavy corridors of East and Central Bengaluru. In East Bengaluru, a Rs 450 crore project will be taken up to reconstruct and strengthen the Outer Ring Road stretch from Silk Board Junction to KR Puram. A grade separator at Alpine Eco Road on the ORR has been allocated Rs 50 crore, while a 2km elevated flyover from Varthur to Gunjur will be constructed at a cost of Rs 150 crore, which will target some of the city’s worst bottlenecks.
Several road widening projects have also been proposed across key stretches such as Bileshivale main road (3.8 km), Bellathur main road (7 km) and Whitefield main road to Kadugodi road (5.5 km).
In the Central parts of the city, the corporation plans to asphalt 145 km of arterial roads and 115 km of ward roads, alongside white-topping of about 30 km of major corridors by December 2026. Twelve major junctions are set to be redesigned under a traffic management initiative aimed at improving vehicle flow. The widening of Padarayanapura Main Road from 9 metres to 24 metres is also expected to impact local traffic in the short term. The corporation also plans on formulating a new parking policy to increase non-tax revenue.
“An automatic sanction under a Sakala system through software is a welcome move. Ultimately, all the documents and processes should move to such a system to remove corruption and red-tapism,” said Srikanth Narasimhan, founder of the Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP).
However, he said that the exemption from the mandatory requirement of obtaining an Occupancy Certificate is a regressive step. While the process of obtaining an OC is mired in corruption and red tape, he said the solution is not to provide an exemption. “This might lead to blatant violations and illegalities without any checks and balances. Instead, the Government should look at implementing a Sakala system with automatic deemed approvals, which will ensure that the checks and balances remain while at the same time ensuring that the process is not mired in corruption and red-tapism,” Srikanth added.
Pedestrian infrastructure gets a push
Both corporations have also allocated significant funds for pedestrian infrastructure, an area that has long been neglected in Bengaluru. In East Bengaluru, 100 km of footpaths will be constructed. A 9 km stretch of footpath along the metro viaduct on the Outer Ring Road will be developed with funding of about Rs 160 crore from the Outer Ring Road Companies Association. These works will be taken up along existing road corridors.
In Central corporation, 50 km of existing footpaths will be upgraded and 15 km of new footpaths will be built. Skywalks and redesigned junctions are also part of the plan.
Building rules relaxed
The budgets introduce major changes to building regulations, which are expected to directly affect neighbourhoods across the city. Under the “Nambike Nakshe” (trusted plan) scheme, building plan approvals for smaller residential sites up to 50x80, will now be granted automatically. In central areas, approvals can be issued on the same day, while in the east they will be processed within 15 days.
The Central corporation has also introduced a series of relaxations, including exemption from mandatory occupancy certificates for residential buildings on 30x40 sites (1,200 sq ft) with ground plus two floors or stilt plus three floors. Stilt parking floors will no longer be counted towards the total building height, effectively allowing an additional floor. A premium Floor Area Ratio policy will enable property owners to construct larger buildings by paying additional charges, allowing an additional 0.4 FAR based on road width.
The Central corporation has also proposed the development of business corridors, where road and civic infrastructure will be upgraded and higher Floor Area Ratio (FAR) will be permitted to support commercial use.
Both the Bengaluru East and Central corporations have announced schemes to convert ‘B khata’ properties into ‘A khata’, bringing a large number of unregularised properties into the formal system. Khatas are official property tax documents that indicate their legal status.
The budgets state that this will be taken up as a revenue measure, with both corporations identifying such properties through GIS mapping and digital surveys.
Owners will be allowed to regularise their properties by paying a fee and submitting required documents. Once converted, these properties will become eligible for building plan approvals, bank loans and property transactions, while also being brought under the property tax net.
In the Central corporation, property owners can apply for conversion by paying a 5% charge along with required documentation. In East Bengaluru, the budget estimates that the conversion process will generate about Rs 225 crore in revenue.
E-khata systems are also being implemented to provide property documents online. In East Bengaluru, 4.5 lakh khatas have already been digitised. Property tax payments and other services will be made available through online platforms and kiosk centres.
A public dashboard will be set up in East Bengaluru to display details of ongoing projects and expenditure.
These changes could lead to increased density in already congested areas, putting additional pressure on roads, water supply and sewage systems.
Flood mitigation and climate measures
Flooding remains a key concern, particularly in East Bengaluru, where several low-lying areas continue to face waterlogging during heavy rains. The budgets propose extensive stormwater drain works, including projects worth Rs 629 crore in East Bengaluru supported by World Bank funding.
In the Central Corporation, Rs 10 crore has been allocated for implementing blue-green corridor projects. These will combine stormwater drains with landscaped green buffers along select roads. The works will involve drain construction and related civil works.
Health and welfare schemes
In East Bengaluru, 15 new primary health centres and 10 Namma Clinics are planned with an allocation of Rs 35 crore to improve access to healthcare. The Central Corporation has proposed bike ambulance units designed to navigate traffic and respond to emergencies more quickly, along with 22 smart virtual clinics with an allocation of Rs 19 crore for remote consultations.
Welfare schemes remain largely similar across both corporations. These include housing subsidies of Rs 5 lakh for economically weaker sections and sanitation workers, financial assistance for unemployed youth under the Sarathi scheme with subsidies of up to Rs 1.5 lakh, and free laptops for students studying children of pourakarmikas and the students belonging to SC/ST communities, backward classes and minority communities pursuing degrees.
The Central Corporation has allocated Rs 4 crore to provide electric two-wheelers to women entrepreneurs from SC/ST communities and sanitation workers, along with e-vending vehicles for street vendors. In East Bengaluru, e-vending vehicles will be distributed to street vendors and development programmes will be conducted to support their livelihoods.