The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has a reported deficit of Rs 600 crore, despite having collected Rs 1,050 crore as property tax last year. 

MIM MLC Syed Amin Jafri told Deccan Chronicle  that the GHMC had a surplus of Rs 580 crore after the term of the previous council expired in December 2014 and when GMHC was headed by a special officer for 15 months after that. This sum was collected over a period of five years from its revenues. 

"Subsequently in 2015-16, the GHMC had an income of Rs 2,129.52 crore and a capital of Rs 360.72 crore. In the same year, it incurred an expenditure of Rs 1,849.30 crore and a capital expenditure of Rs 1,222.95 crore, which is above its capital deposits. This led to deficits," he added. 

The report also states, "The state’s highest revenue collecting corporation is finding it difficult to execute engineering works in the city, said an internal source. This is because the GHMC is busy fulfilling the ruling TRS government’s pet projects like the two-bedroom housing scheme for the poor. The state government has not issued any funds for the projects in its manifesto."

The corporation is also planning to increase its property tax by Rs 500 crore this year by reassessing the tax for commercial and residential properties, The Hindu reported. 

During a review meeting on Thursday, GHMC commissioner B Janardhan Reddy said that even if 50 percent of the properties is verified, they can only collect Rs 100 crore.