Kochi: The revised State Budget for 2026-27 unveiled a string of major allocations and ambitious projects for Kochi and, largely, for Ernakulam district, including a ₹100-crore international film city, industrial manufacturing hubs, healthcare upgrades, and transport infrastructure. Yet, despite the district emerging as one of the prominent beneficiaries of the budget presented by Chief Minister and Finance Minister VD Satheesan, Kochi Corporation found itself largely left out, with almost none of its key civic demands making the cut. The civic body had high hopes in the budget as the CM himself comes from Ernakulam district and the corporation is ruled by the UDF.

Welcoming the budget, Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden said that after a long time, the State had presented a budget that would bring ‘great joy to Kochi’. He described the proposed JC Daniel International Film City as a matter of ‘great pride for Ernakulam’ and expressed gratitude for the inclusion of the Goshree connectivity projects, which he said he had personally urged the government to consider.

The biggest allocation for the region was ₹100 crore for the JC Daniel International Film City in Kochi. The project grants industry status to the cinema sector, provides a permanent venue for the International Film Festival, establishes anti-piracy mechanisms and seeks to attract major national and international film productions.

The budget also earmarked ₹1 crore for a memorial to late actor Salim Kumar in Ernakulam, ₹1 crore as initial funding for the proposed Umbayi Music Academy, and another ₹1 crore for ongoing works at the Koonammavu St Philomina's & St Chavara Pilgrimage Centre, including preservation of the 175-year-old room, monastery building and a historical-cultural museum dedicated to Saint Chavara.

In the transport sector, the government allocated ₹1 crore for preliminary activities, including land acquisition and initial construction, related to the Goshree-Bolghatty Parallel Bridge and Goshree-Mamangalam Road projects. The budget also promised to strengthen the functioning of the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) in Kochi to address growing urban mobility challenges.

The government further outlined plans to transform the Kochi-Aluva-Perumbavoor belt into a Global Furniture Hub, earmarking ₹10 crore for expanding plywood units, upgrading quality standards, creating world-class infrastructure and conducting design training programmes to integrate local manufacturers with global supply chains. Another ₹10 crore was allocated to develop the Kochi-Thrissur belt into a Global Gold Hub through a dedicated gold exchange centre and jewellery manufacturing park.

As part of the State's broader logistics and aerospace vision, a world-class Global Convention Centre is proposed near Cochin International Airport, while Mission Samudra envisages specialised manufacturing zones, stuffing centres and dry ports in the vicinity of Kochi Port to strengthen the city's role as a logistics gateway.

The healthcare sector received ₹10 crore for modernisation and infrastructure enhancement at Ernakulam Medical College, while ₹5 crore was allocated for repair and maintenance works under the Periyar Valley Irrigation Project. The budget also announced the establishment of an Arbitration Court in Kochi to speed up commercial dispute resolution through professionalised and digitised mechanisms.

Corporations' wishlist largely ignored
However, the optimism surrounding the district-level allocations stood in sharp contrast to the disappointment within Kochi Corporation, whose extensive wish list found little place in the budget.

Ahead of the budget presentation, a delegation led by Mayor VK Minimol had met the newly sworn-in Chief Minister and submitted a 12-point development agenda for the city. Topping the list was a request for state financial support for the corporation's newly launched Indira Canteen scheme, a subsidised food initiative aimed at creating a hunger-free Kochi while supporting women's livelihoods and social entrepreneurship. The programme currently depends on corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding, with the corporation struggling to bridge its financial deficit, but the budget made no provision for the initiative.

The corporation had also sought funding for an Asian Development Bank-backed 190 MLD drinking water treatment plant intended to serve Kochi Corporation, five neighbouring municipalities and 13 grama panchayats. Other key demands included a waste-to-energy plant at Brahmapuram, the Vembanad Lake Rejuvenation Mission for flood mitigation, the Thammanam water tank project, the Thammanam-Pulleppady Road, the Goshree-Pachalam-Mamangalam Road, a proposed 40-feet road in Palluruthy, and railway overbridges at Atlantis and Mattancherry Halt.

In the end, apart from the allocation linked to the Goshree connectivity corridor, the corporation's proposals were largely absent from the budget.

Defending the outcome, Mayor Minimol pointed out that the Goshree-Pachalam-Mamangalam Road, which she described as the only entirely new project among the corporation's demands, had secured funding. She noted that other major proposals, including the Atlantis railway overbridge and the Thammanam-Pulleppady Road, were already ongoing projects. The Mayor remained optimistic about securing support for the Indira Canteens, arguing that the subsidy formed part of the UDF's local body election manifesto. 

“The corporation would continue pressing the government for assistance. The proposed Mattancherry Halt railway overbridge appeared to face issues related to naval clearance and the state's financial constraints may have limited allocations,” she said.

The opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF), however, launched a sharp attack on the budget. VA Sreejith, the LDF parliamentary party leader in the Corporation, said the budget had failed to address four critical issues affecting Kochi residents – public transport, acute drinking water shortages, waste management and the growing stray dog menace. The LDF expressed disappointment over the lack of focus on Kochi's mounting urban challenges.

“Despite Kochi being the state's largest revenue contributor and located in the Chief Minister's home district, the city had been completely abandoned. With the UDF ruling the corporation and the state, we were hoping for projects powered by a ‘double-engine’. But the UDF administration’s claims that the budget would transform Kochi had fallen flat, with the government ignoring even proposals submitted by its own party leadership,” he said.

Former Mayor M Anilkumar also criticised the budget for overlooking initial funding for the proposed drinking water treatment plant, canal rejuvenation projects, the Thammanam-Pulleppady Road, a cultural centre at Kacherippady and Metro extensions to West Kochi and Nedumbassery.

Meanwhile, Ernakulam MLA TJ Vinod said the constituency, which covers the majority of the corporation, had received ‘excellent consideration’ in the budget, with allocations for three key infrastructure projects — the development of MG Road from Madhava Pharmacy Junction to Thevara Junction, the upgradation of Vaduthala-Chittoor Road, and the Goshree-Mamangalam Road project along with the proposed Goshree-Bolgatty Parallel Bridge. He said the long-pending Goshree project would ease traffic congestion by providing direct connectivity from the Goshree islands and the Vaduthala, Pachalam, Chittoor and Cheranalloor regions to the Edappally-Mamangalam corridor, while the parallel bridge would reduce pressure on the existing Goshree bridges and improve access to Bolgatty, Mulavukad and Vallarpadam.

“The budget's proposal to establish manufacturing zones, stuffing centres and a dry port around Kochi Port are good,” he said