Chandigarh, Sept. 18 -- The Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) is set to slash its annual expenditure by nearly Rs.50 crore this fiscal year through a series of cost-cutting measures aimed at improving efficiency, curbing wasteful spending, and creating fiscal space for long-pending development works that have been stalled since May last year.

For the fiscal year 2025-26, the cash-strapped civic body had approved an annual budget of Rs.2,114 crore, heavily banking on additional funds under the Centre's fourth Delhi Finance Commission (DFC) recommendations. However, the UT administration sanctioned only Rs.625 crore as regular grant, while MC projected Rs.410 crore revenue from its own sources.

To ease the financial crunch, the Centre...