Praja Foundation releases Fiscal Empowerment of City Governments 2026 report at Mumbai national consultation

Praja Foundation released the Fiscal Empowerment of City Governments 2026 report at a national consultation in Mumbai. The study analyses 398 budget documents spanning 2017-18 to 2025-26 and covers 43 municipal corporations across 28 states and two union territories, marking the organisation's third such report on municipal finance. Key findings include: cities depend on government grants for nearly 60% of income; own source revenue averages 34.95% of total municipal income, with property tax at 14.46% and non-tax revenue at 17.16%. The average share of tax revenue in total municipal income is 17.97%, and per capita own-source revenue is ₹2,664.69. Only 14 of 43 cities published all nine budget documents publicly. Budget data by account heads was published by 25 cities, while 14 issued data divided by department accounts. Twenty-five cities followed the NMAM 2004 accounting format, while 18 used their own municipal code. Twenty-three of the 43 cities do not have independent authority to introduce new taxes, and 19 lack independent authority to approve their budget. All 43 cities are permitted to borrow, but only 20 borrowed between 2016-17 and 2023-24, with the borrowing share averaging 3% of total income for cities other than Mumbai. The report includes insights from Nitai Mehta, Ravikant Joshi, and Milind Mhaske on governance and municipal empowerment. A QR code provides access to the press release, photos, and related documents.