Centre tables Budget for Capital; Rs 260-cr electricity subsidy, no new taxes proposed
Amid ongoing Government formation manoeuvre in Delhi, the BJP-led Government at the Centre on Friday tabled a Rs 36,766-crore Budget for the Capital with the main attractions being a Rs 260-crore power subsidy, 500 water ATMs and no new taxes.
A monthly subsidy of Rs 1.20 per unit for consumption up to 200 units and 80 paise per unit for consumption of 201-400 units will be given starting October this year. This means that those using up to 200 units will get 30 per cent rebate while those using between 200-400 units, will get 15.5 per cent rebate in the power tariff. Around 80 per cent of the consumers or 30-23 lakh of the total consumers are expected to benefit from the subsidy.
With this subsidy in power, the BJP-led Government tried to neutralise Arvind Kejriwal factor in the Capital’s politics as the party has indirectly delivered its pre-poll promise to lower the power tariff by 30 per cent in Delhi. The Budget proposal on power subsidy came against the backdrop of 8.32-per cent hike in power tariff by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) the day before.
Referring to power tariff hike, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in his Budget speech that it was necessitated due to increase in input costs. “However, the poor and marginalised should not suffer. I, therefore, propose power subsidy of Rs 260 crore for domestic consumers to provide relief to targeted consumers on account of increase in tariff. The modalities will be worked out by the Government of NCT of Delhi,” he said.
With the aim of providing drinking water at an affordable price in parched areas of the city, Jaitley proposed to set up 500 water ATMS in the Capital. “About 500 ATMs supported with ground water/tanker services will be set up in 2014-15. To provide drinking water facilities at an affordable price in water deficient areas, small sized decentralised drinking water Reverse Osmosis (RO) based plants will be set up and drinking water will be made available through water ATMs,” Jaitley said. There are many parts in the national Capital Territory which do not have drinking water facilities.
Jaitley said that to address the water crisis in the Capital region, construction of long pending Renuka Dam would be taken up on priority. In order to provide better transport to the commuters, the Finance Minister said tenders have been floated for procurement of 1,380 semi-low floor buses for DTC. “To provide convenience to the commuters, DTC will introduce an automated fare collection system through electronic ticketing machines and card readers. This system will subsequently be integrated with the fare collection system of Delhi Metro,” he said.
The Government has also proposed to increase plan outlay under pension scheme fro senior citizens from Rs 538 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 600 crore in the current fiscal. Terming the Delhi Budget as “directionless”, Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh lovely alleged that the BJP had promised 30 per cent reduction in power tariffs and it should honour its promise by reducing 30 per cent in the electricity bills for all Delhiites. “When the Congress was giving subsidy to power consumers, the BJP had always criticised the move but the saffron party was doing the same,” lovely added.
The total Delhi Budget for the year 2014-15 is Rs 36,766 crore that includes Rs 19,066 crore (52 per cent) under non-plan expenditure and Rs 17,700 crore (48 per cent) under Plan outlay that also include Rs 1,000 crore (3 per cent) under centrally-sponsored scheme (CSS). Of the Rs 36,766 crore proposed expenditure, Rs 31,571 crore would be from tax revenue, Rs 1,161.01 crore from non-tax revenue; Rs 699.71 crore from capital receipt and Rs 3,672.09 crore from Central Government as grant-in-aid.
The social security and welfare sector has been allocated Rs 1,862 crore (11 per cent); transport sector Rs 3,702 crore (22 per cent); housing and urban development sector Rs 2,154 crore (13 per cent); water supply and sanitation sector Rs 2,000 crore (12 per cent); education sector Rs 2,482 crore (15 per cent); medical and public health sector Rs 2,724 crore (16 per cent), energy sector Rs 675 crore (4 per cent) and others Rs 1,101 crore (7 per cent).
As per Budget proposals, the outstanding debt of Delhi Government will be reduced from Rs 32,080.30 crore on March 31, 2014 to Rs 30,404 crore in 2015. The outstanding debt (gross domestic product) ratio of Delhi is 7.93 per cent, one of the lowest in the country. In the interim budget presented by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, the Capital was allotted an outlay of Rs 32,732 crore. The Central assistance has been kept at Rs 349 crore, which is Rs 682 crore lower than the previous year’s Rs 1,031 crore.