Pune: Hemant Rasane, Standing Committee Chairman of Pune Municipal Corporation on Monday (March 1) presented Rs 8,370 budget for FY 2021-22, a whopping Rs 720 crore increase in the draft budget of Rs 7,650 presented by the PMC Commissioner Vikram Kumar a month before.

The PMC elections are scheduled in 2022 and hence this year's budget was expected to be an election budget. Rasane proposed 83 schemes during his budget speech. Interestingly, Rasane has allocated zero budget for his prabhag (ward or constituency) while stating that he has given priority to the development of the city and increasing the revenue of PMC.

Rasane also emphasised on the public-private partnership (PPP) model for developing roads and other places like Tulshibaug, Nehru Stadium, Peshwe Park, Saras Baug and more.

Mayor Murlidhar Mohol, Deputy Mayor Saraswati Shendge, PMC Leader of House Ganesh Bidkar, Leader of Opposition Deepali Dhumal and other party leaders were present during the budget session of the civic body.