Financial health of city's civic agencies precarious, says Janaagraha study

The financial condition of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is in a “precarious condition’’, says a study by Janaagraha, a non-government organisation.

Releasing the fiscal data of the three agencies, Srikanth Viswanathan of Janaagraha said that while the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike's financial management has been in focus over the last several years, other civic agencies had escaped attention.

The BDA and the BWSSB have a huge gap between their estimated and actual budget whereas the BMTC performed fairly well.

In 2011-12, the BDA had an estimated budget of Rs 5,074 crore whereas its actual expenditure was Rs 646 crore. A year after, the BDA's estimated budget was Rs 4,927 crore while the actual spending was just Rs 749 crore. The BDA later brought down its estimated budget to around Rs 2,000 crore although its expenditure remained between Rs 800 crore to Rs 900 crore.

Data shows that the BWSSB suffered major loss in 2014-15. Its income was Rs 878 crore while its expenditure was Rs 1,218 crore, a difference of Rs 340 crore.
In the corresponding period, the BMTC had incurred a loss of Rs 65 crore.

Janaagraha maintained in its report: “Given the scale of water supply and sewerage challenges in Bengaluru, the BWSSB's financial performance is worrisome.”

Poor debt management
The study shows that the BWSSB and the BMTC are pathetic in cash and debt management, especially the former’s records are quite worrisome. In 2011-12, the BWSSB had loans of Rs 2,673 crore whereas it had a cash of Rs 662 crore.
The next year, its debts touched Rs 3,149 crore while its cash in hand further decreased to Rs 558 crore. In 2013-14, the loan increased to Rs 3,446 crore whereas its bank balance was Rs 916 crore.

The BMTC was just behind the BWSSB in terms of cash-in-hand and loans. In 2013-14 BMTC had Rs 40 crore in hand while its loan was Rs 669 crore.

Viswanathan said: “Of all the 21 cities we had surveyed, the financial condition of the civic agencies of Bengaluru is precarious. Scrutiny of these agencies is essential as Bengaluru is one of the fastest growing cities in the world.”