Delhi govt has successfully navigated economic challenges posed by COVID-19: Gahlot

The Delhi governments annual Budget for 2023-24 tabled in the assembly on Wednesday showed healthy growth in various parameters indicating recovery of the citys economy from the impact of COVID-19, even as Finance minister Kailash Gahlot highlighted discrimination by the Centre in sharing tax revenue with the national capital.Delhis economy is now slowly emerging from the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister said.

The Delhi government's annual Budget for 2023-24 tabled in the assembly on Wednesday showed healthy growth in various parameters indicating recovery of the city's economy from the impact of COVID-19, even as Finance minister Kailash Gahlot highlighted ''discrimination'' by the Centre in sharing tax revenue with the national capital.

Delhi's economy is now slowly emerging from the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister said. The gross state domestic product (GSDP) is likely to increase from Rs 9,04,642 crore in the year 2021-22 to Rs 10,43,759 crore in 2022-23 at prevailing market prices which an increase of 15.38 per cent, he said.

The real growth rate of Delhi's GSDP in the year 2022-23 is likely to be 9.18 per cent which will be higher than that at the national level pegged at seven per cent, Gahlot said.

''This means that we are again attaining the level of pre-pandemic economic activities,'' he said.

The contribution of Delhi's real GSDP to the national GDP is estimated to increase from 3.94 per cent in 2011-12 to 4.09 per cent in 2022-23, even as the city accounts for only 1.53 per cent of the country's total population, the finance minister said.

Delhi's per capita income is likely to increase to Rs 4,44,768 at current prices in the financial year 2022-23. It was Rs 3,89,529 in 2021-22. This shows an increase of 14.18 per cent in Delhi's per capita income in 2022-23, he said.

Delhi's per capita income for the year 2022-23 is almost 2.6 times higher than the national average of Rs 1,72,000, he added.

''All these numbers reflect that Delhi government has successfully navigated the economic challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic,'' Gahlot said in the budget session of the Delhi assembly.

Delhi's per capita income ranks third-highest among all states in India, and the highest among states with over one crore population. Delhi also has emerged as the state with the highest minimum wages in the country, he said.

The total budget outlay for 2023-24 at Rs 78,800 crore is 8.69 per cent higher than the the revised estimates for 2022-23. An outlay of Rs 21,817 crore was earmarked under capital expenditure on infrastructure like roads, buildings, flyover among others.

The share of capital expenditure of Rs 21,817 crore as part of the overall budget has also risen to 27.68 per cent as compared to last year. An amount of Rs 43,700 crore has been earmarked for schemes, programmes and projects.

The total receipts of Rs 78,800 crore estimated in the Budget 2023-24 include Rs 53,565 crore (68 per cent) as tax revenue.

The major sources of tax revenue in 2023-24 are estimated to be GST and VAT, Rs 37,200 crore (69 per cent), state excise Rs 7,365 crore (14 per cent), stamps and registration fee of Rs 6,000 crore (11 per cent) and taxes on motor vehicles Rs 3,000 crore (six per cent), showed the budget document.

Gahlot said the budget outlay has registered a ''historic rise'' over the years despite a ''stepmotherly'' treatment by the central government.

Delhi's share from the central pool of taxes has remained frozen at Rs 325 crore since 2001-02 and until this year 2022-23. This is negligible given that Delhi contributes over Rs 1.75 lakh crore in income tax to the central government every year and Delhi's legitimate share in the central pool of taxes is approximately Rs 6,400 crore, Gahlot said.

For the financial year 2023-24, the central government has done away with Rs 325 crore as Delhi's share from the central pool of taxes which is ''economic discrimination'' and ''gross injustice'' to the people of Delhi, he said.

Gahlot also said that termination of GST compensation programme from June 2022 is expected to cause revenue losses of up to Rs 12,000 crore annually.

The budget estimates for 2023-24 included the highest allocation of Rs 16,575 crore for education (21 per cent), followed by 12 per cent for Health (Rs 9,742 crore) and transport (Rs 9,337 crore).

Other major outlays included Rs 8,239 crore (11 per cent) for Housing and Urban Development, Rs 6,342 crore (eight per cent) for water supply and sanitation and Rs 4,744 crore(six per cent) for social welfare and social security.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)