NMC’s vacant spaces to be given on rent for mobile towers

LOKMAT NEWS NETWORK

Nashik, Oct 5

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation has set up mobile towers on road dividers, in vacant plots, and on buildings owned by the Municipal Corporation. The corporation thus earns a large amount of money, in the form of tax, from the mobile companies. Nashik Municipal Corporation is going to implement a scheme on the same lines in Nashik. In the next 15 days, mobile companies will give information about places they have found suitable to the administration of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC), in order to put the above plan in action.

The 15th Finance Commission has given clear instructions to increase the source of income if funds are needed for various schemes. The main sources of the NMC’s revenue are property tax and water tariff, development charges for building permits, and GST refunds from the union government. More than 50 percent of that income goes into the employees’ salaries and other daily expenses. The remaining amount has to be spent on development works. The financial condition of the Municipal Corporation is desperate, and the coffers for development works are in disarray.

In view of the next possible financial crisis, the NMC administration has focused on finding new sources of revenue. Accordingly, NMC’s Additional Commissioner, Pradip Choudhari held a meeting of all department heads and gave instructions to look for places and buildings to set up mobile towers on NMC owned properties. However, mobile companies are going to search for these places themselves.

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Spaces will be given on rent

Instructions were given to collect information about vacant plots and properties of the municipal corporation. Such spaces will be rented out to mobile companies at ready reckoner rate. It is preliminary estimated that through this means, the NMC can get an income of Rs 10 crores per year. Also, this will boost the revenue of the NMC that is facing financial trouble.