With a plan outlay of Rs 19,000 crore, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia presented the Annual Financial Statement (Budget) for the Financial Year 2015-16 in the Budget Session of the Delhi Assembly on Thursday.
The total Budget Estimate for the financial year is proposed to be Rs 41,129 crore and the total receipts are estimated at Rs 41,500, leaving a surplus of Rs 371 crore.
With a major impetus being given to Education, Health and Transport, with the three of them forming 61 per cent of the total plan outlay of Rs 19,000, it seems clear where the priorities lie for the incumbent Government. While Education is allocated a whopping 24 per cent of total outlay (Rs 4,570 crore), Transport is allocated 20 per cent (Rs 3,695 crore) and health is allocated 17 per cent (Rs 3,138 crore) of the total planned expenditure.
Other than that, Rs 2,348 crore are allocated for Social Security and Welfare, Rs 1,793 crore for Urban Development, Rs 1,468 crore for Water Supply and Sanitation.
The Government expects a major portion of the revenue to come from Value Added Tax (VAT), which is left untouched by the Government for the current Financial Year. With Rs 24,000 crore estimated to come in the form of VAT, it forms 69 per cent of the total revenue estimate.
leaving the VAT rate unchanged, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said that his Government doesn’t want to make any rough changes to the tax structure.
“We will conduct a scientific study into the tax rates and only then change them so that they are effective,” he said.
Apart from that, Rs 1,900 crore are expected to come from taxes on Motor Vehicles, Rs 3,900 crore from stamps and registration fees, Rs 4,100 crore from State excise and Rs 761 crore from other taxes like luxury tax, entertainment tax and betting.