No new taxes; focus stays on health and education
A Rs 48,000crore budget for the national capital was on Wednesday unveiled by the AAP government, laying major focus on improving transport, health, water distribution and education infrastructure.
In its third Budget, the Arvind Kejriwal government abolished the plan and nonplan expenditure heads and presented it in terms of revenue and capital classification in line with the Centre's decision.
There was no proposal on levying any new tax.
In a first, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who holds the finance portfolio, also presented an "outcome budget" which he said would act like a "contract" between the government and the people.
Sisodia asserted that the economy of the state will grow "despite demonetisation".
At the same time, he said note ban has led to contraction in the city's estimated GSDP for the ongoing financial year (at constant prices) although it will still be higher than the projected growth at the national level.
At current prices, the national capital's economic growth has been pegged at 12.76 per cent.
"When we allocate money for skywalk, merely constructing it would not be counted as success. Its success would depend on how many people actually use it. That in a nutshell explains the objective of the outcome component," he said. Eyeing the municipal polls, the government has earmarked a record Rs 7,571 crore for the civic bodies, which comes to about 15 per cent of the total allocation.
The government alloted Rs 11,300 crore for education, about 24 per cent of the total Budget, to the education sector. Last year's allocation was Rs 10,690 crore.
An outlay of Rs 5,736 crore has been made for the health sector, a priority area for AAP government.
Rs 1,156 crore has been set aside for the phase four of the Delhi Metro while Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for developing bus terminals and depots.
Sisodia said Delhi's contribution to India's GDP has increased from 3.94 per cent in 2011-12 to 4.08 per cent in 2016-17. The size of the budget for 2017-18 is Rs 48,000 crore.
The Deputy Chief Minister said VAT on Aviation Turbine Fuel will be brought down from 25 per cent to 1 per cent for flights to remote areas such as North Eastern states to compliment Centre's regional connectivity scheme.
Sisodia said the AAP government will continue to give subsidy to battery-operated vehicles as part of efforts to promote eco-friendly public transport system.
He said Rs 2,100 crore has been allocated for the water sector and cleaning of Yamuna while Rs 3,100 crore has been earmarked for Urban Development.
The budget of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has been augmented three times with a total allocation of Rs 120 crore.
The power sector has been given an allocation of Rs 2,194 crore, Sisodia said adding special emphasis will be on developing solar energy and waste-to-energy plants.
Rs 57 crore has been set aside for the environment department which spearheads the anti-pollution initiative in the city.
Delhi Metro on Wednesday got a Budgetary allocation of Rs 1,156 crore for construction of its ambitious Phase-iv project that envisages extending the modern transport system further in the city.
Addressing the Assembly while presenting the Budget, the Deputy CM said “the existing metro network is 189 kilometers and on completion of Phase-iii of DMRC it will be increased to about 325 kms. The work of Metro Phase- IV will be started in 2017-18 and will be completed by December 2021.” The Delhi government has approved the fourth phase of the Delhi Metro that will take the city’s transport lifeline to outer parts of the Capital and bolster connectivity to the airport. Construction on the fourth phase that comprises six lines will start in 2017 and is scheduled to end in three years. The 104-kilometre network is expected to carry 1.5 million passengers daily. The new phase will also benefit South Delhi residents as it will provide them an option of taking the Metro to go to the airport and other localities.
The DMRC originally proposed to build a 20-km-long corridor between the existing Aerocity and Tughlakabad Metro stations but has now extended it to Terminal 1 station. The line will go through densely populated areas such as Sangam Vihar, Saket, Mehrauli, Vasant Kunj and Mahipalpur in South Delhi. Six lines — Inderlok–indraprastha, Tughlakabad–terminal 1, Lajpat Nagar–saket G-block, Janakpuri (West)-rk Ashram and Mukundpur-maujpur are proposed in Phase IV.