NAGPUR: Even as the civic body considers a 10% hike in property tax to boost revenue, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation is facing a major challenge in recovering dues from central and state govt depts, which together owe more than Rs145 crore in unpaid property tax. Of the revised target of Rs325 crore for the current financial year, the civic body has so far recovered Rs215 crore, while around Rs110 crore is still outstanding.
While strict penalties and attachment action are being taken against ordinary taxpayers to clear pending dues, several govt offices have continued to default for years. The poor recovery has not only forced the civic body to spend additional resources on collection but has also resulted in a significant shortfall in revenue.
Acting on instructions of municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar, the property tax dept has now issued demi-official (DO) letters to various govt depts, directing them to clear the dues at the earliest.
With barely days left before the current financial year ends on March 31, officials have stepped up efforts to meet the target, but recovery from govt depts remains a major hurdle. The target was reduced in the revised budget presented by Itankar; earlier, then municipal commissioner Abhijeet Chaudhari had set a target of Rs350 crore for the current financial year.
As per official data, 358 govt properties in the city owe NMC Rs145.14 crore property tax. Of these, 270 belong to state govt depts with total dues of Rs131.19 crore, while 88 Central govt properties account for Rs13.94 crore in pending tax.
Among the major defaulters from the Central govt is BSNL, whose office buildings and staff quarters in areas such as Khalasi Line, Khamla, Nandanvan and Sakkardara together owe several lakhs in property tax. On the state govt side, large dues are pending from the divisional sports complex in Mankapur, the police training centre at Surendra Nagar, hostels attached to the facility, the state crime branch office in Jafar Nagar, and the Government College of Fine Arts.
NMC deputy commissioner (revenue) Milind Meshram said DO letters have been issued to all concerned government depts and meetings have also been held to discuss payment of dues. “Officials from several depts have assured the civic body that the pending tax will be cleared once funds are allocated in the budget,” he said, adding that the NMC has already recovered around Rs12 crore from govt depts.
Property tax dues
Total pending (Central + State): Rs145.14 crore
Total properties: 358
Major central govt defaulters
BSNL office building, Khalasi Line – Rs1.29 crore
BSNL office building – Rs12.63 lakh
Assistant GM, Telecom Dept – Rs10.15 lakh
Telecom Dept office, Khamla – Rs16.02 lakh
Telecom Dept office, Nandanvan – Rs15.39 lakh
Telecom Dept office, Sakkardara – Rs33.28 lakh
Telecom Dept staff quarters, Sakkardara – Rs65.60 lakh
Major state govt defaulters
Divisional Sports Complex, Mankapur – Rs6.55 crore
Sports complex boys & girls hostels, Mankapur – Rs37.72 lakh
Regional Provident Fund office – Rs13.31 lakh
Police Training Centre, Surendra Nagar (Rani Laxmibai hostel) – Rs2.08 crore
Police Training Centre, Surendra Nagar (two other hostels) – Rs2.71 crore
Police Training Centre, Surendra Nagar (Rani Durgavati hostel) – Rs1.35 crore
State CID office, Jafar Nagar – Rs38.29 lakh
Government College of Fine Arts – Rs17.05 lakh
Dept-wise pending tax
Depts—No. of properties—Current dues—Arrears—Total
State govt—270—Rs7.60 crore—Rs101.30 crore—Rs131.19 crore
Central govt—88—Rs3.24 crore—Rs8.28 crore—Rs13.94 crore
