Chief minister Sheila Dikshit presented an election-friendly '37,450-crore Budget in the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday with no new taxes imposed on Delhiites. Ms Dikshit exempted levy of VAT on many commodities. Out of the total '37,450 crore proposed expenditure, '21,000 crore is non-plan expenditure, '16,000 crores plan expenditure and '450 crores under centrally-sponsored schemes. The non-planned expenditure has increased by around '3,000 crores as compared to last year’s '18,000 crores. During her 90-minute budget speech, Ms Dikshit said that the growth rate of Delhi’s economy is very robust but it needs to be backed by appropriate policies that would facilitate a general improvement in living standards and enhancement of people’s well being. “This requires making good use of the public revenue generated by fast economic growth for social services, especially for public healthcare and education that would give the socially and economic disadvantaged adequate capabilities to participate in the growing economy,” she said. She presented the budget quoting the English philanthropist Hannah More, “Proportion and priority are among the best secrets of domestic wisdoms, and there is no surer test of integrity than a well proportional expenditure.” Ms Dikshit said that 80 per cent of the proposed expenditure is to be financed by tax revenue of '30,454 crores, two per cent ('913) crore from non-tax revenue, 11 per cent from capitals receipts ('4113 crore), three per cent from grant-in-aid ('1,127 crore), three per cent ('1,144 crore) from central plan assistance and one per cent ('430 crore) aid from Central government. The government will be left with a surplus of '731 crores. “For improving efficiency and transparency in the tax regime, a new facility of online registration under the Delhi Value Added Tax Act and the Central Sales Tax Act has been introduced with the objective to reduce the physical interface between the taxman and the tax-payer. The system should be made so easy that people should come on their own to pay their taxes,” she said. The government plans to spend '3,876 crores on transport which is 24.23 per cent of total approved outlay. Medical, water supply, urban development and education sectors have got 10-15 per cent of the total outlay. “Delhi has a total of 43,500 hospital beds in 886 health institutions. We will sharpen our focus on preventive and promotive aspects of healthcare and encourage holistic approach with focus on public health and lifestyle diseases,” she said. Out of total outlay, education (general and technical) got '1,981 crores (12.38 per cent), urban development '1,840 crores (11.50 per cent) and water supply and sanitation '1,665 crores (10.41 per cent).
