Chennai Corporation seeks ₹233 crore from State as liabilities cross ₹3,400 crore

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has sought ₹233 crore in short-term financial assistance from the Tamil Nadu government to help clear pending bills. The request comes as the civic body’s total liabilities for the current financial year stand at ₹3,434.72 crore.

According to a document shared by GCC, the liability comprises pending bills of ₹1,929.72 crore as of July 29, 2026, and anticipated bills of ₹1,505 crore for the remaining part of the financial year. The Corporation has asked for the money under the Ways and Means Advance, a facility meant to bridge temporary cash-flow gaps. It has also requested the State to release two quarters’ stamp duty surcharge in advance.

GCC Commissioner G.S. Sameeran confirmed the development. The civic body is also reviewing expenditures across all departments to rationalise and reduce spending, the document noted.

The Corporation’s finances have come under pressure as expenditure has grown faster than revenue in the past few years. Revenue receipts increased from ₹3,747 crore in 2022-23 to ₹5,214 crore in 2025-26 — a rise of ₹1,467 crore. However, expenditure grew from ₹3,581 crore to ₹5,676 crore during the same period, an increase of ₹2,095 crore.

This gap has turned the Corporation’s revenue account from surplus to deficit. After recording a revenue surplus of ₹166 crore in 2022-23 and ₹728 crore in 2023-24, GCC posted a revenue deficit of ₹73 crore in 2024-25. The deficit widened to ₹463 crore in 2025-26. The overall deficit, after accounting for principal repayment, also rose from ₹375 crore in 2022-23 to ₹1,970 crore in 2025-26.

To fund capital works, the Corporation has increasingly transferred money from its revenue account to the capital account. Such transfers rose from ₹303 crore in 2022-23 to ₹937 crore in 2025-26. Meanwhile, capital grants from the State government declined from ₹1,941 crore to ₹521 crore during the same period.

The document attributed the widening gap to the expansion of civic infrastructure, higher operation and maintenance costs, and the execution of capital projects using GCC’s own funds. It noted that the Buildings and Roads Department accounts for the largest share of the pending liabilities.

“While GCC has been able to maintain relatively stable revenue collections, expenditure growth has consistently outpaced revenue growth over the last few years,” the document said.

On the way forward, the Corporation said the Commissioner reviews the cash position and important payments on a daily basis. For the medium term, GCC is undertaking strategic revenue augmentation reforms, including reassessing under-assessed properties for property tax, using data mapping to identify tax leakages, and monetising assets.

The GCC has revised property tax demand for under-assessed commercial properties identified through its ongoing GIS mapping exercise. “So far, around 85,000 commercial properties have been identified, and demand has been revised after field inspection. GCC intends to take up residential properties next, in a phased manner with focus on large properties and multistoreyed buildings,” Commissioner Sameeran said.

During the first 27 days of July, GCC collected ₹158.18 crore in property tax through a special drive, compared with ₹61.55 crore in the same period last year.