Bad roads, traffic congestion, water shortages, flooding — these are everyday realities for Bengalureans. Yet without a clear picture of how public money is spent in the city, there is no way to connect these problems to their causes.
Public spending on Bengaluru is estimated at approximately INR 38,455 crore in 2021–22, a figure that does not officially exist. Janaagraha had to piece it together from more than 70 documents across 13 public authorities. Only 20% of this spending is by the city government, the sole institution directly elected and accountable to citizens. The remaining 80% sits with parastatals and state departments, which on average disclose just 34% of their financial information.
This discussion paper makes the case for radical transparency in public spending in Bengaluru and sets out three fixes to achieve this: bringing all public authorities under common fiscal transparency rules, creating a consolidated city-level public spending dashboard, and publishing project-level details, sector- and ward-wise spending data, and service delivery outcomes in machine-readable formats. Together, these steps could move Bengaluru from opacity to accountability — and from accountability to better governance.
