The debate on the budget in the general body meeting will also be held `in camera'. Mhatre informed reporters that it was not possible to make the budget public. ``There is a provision in the BMC Act whereby the budget cannot be leaked till it is presented in the house,'' was all that he had to say. However, sources said the BMC was likely to make good the deficit in the budget by increasing revenue from various departments, especially the estate department.

Sources pointed out that there was an estimated income of Rs 2,610 crore, while the estimated expenditureworks out to be Rs 1,995 crore. But in view of the huge deficit, cement concretisation of roads have been put on hold for a year. Also, there will not be any expenditure on construction of roads and bridges.

The budget states that a new property tax policy will be implemented due to which there will be an additional income of Rs 251 crore to the BMC. But there is no proposal to increase any taxes related to property.

According to estimates listed in the budget, due to the change in the property tax policy, revenue from general taxes is estimated to go up by Rs 200 crore, from fire brigade by Rs 20 crore and education by Rs 31 crore.Stress has been laid on collecting more revenue while keeping the taxes the same. In the solid waste management (SWM), the estimated increase is Rs 25 crore, for municipal schools it is Rs 31 crore and in general taxes the increase is estimated at Rs 43 crore.