Delhi Budget session from Feb 15; health, education, roads among priorities

The Kejriwal government will present its tenth budget in the budget session of Delhi Assembly to be held from February 15-20, with a focus on health, education, roads and infrastructure, officials said on Friday.

Delhi Finance Minister Atishi is expected to table the 2024-25 budget of the city government on February 17, they said.

It will be the first budget presentation by Atishi, who was given the finance portfolio last year.

A file of the budget session has been sent to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena for his approval, said a statement from Delhi government.

In the forthcoming budget, the Kejriwal government is set to address several significant issues, placing particular emphasis on education, health, electricity, water, roads, and infrastructure and various developmental projects, the statement said.

The government is considering to start the 'Business Blasters' programme for final-year and pre-final-year students in colleges, aiming to enable them to start their businesses after leaving college. Funds for entrepreneurship programmes may be allocated in the budget, it said.

The Delhi LG will address the House on the first day of the budget session and the Outcome budget (report card of government) will be tabled in the House on the next day.

During the preparation of the budget, the government sought suggestions from all stakeholders in Delhi and the noteworthy recommendations from them have been included in the budget, the statement said.

In the financial year 2023-24, the Kejriwal government had a whopping Rs 78,800-crore budget outlay, with focus on a 'Clean, Beautiful, and Modern Delhi'.

An allocation of Rs 21,000 crore was made for Delhi's infrastructure.

In 2014-15, Delhi's budget was only Rs 37,450 crore, which more than doubled in the last fiscal year.

The budget preparations of the government in the last 20 days included the first high-level meeting regarding the budget chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on January 6.

During the meeting, Kejriwal held detailed discussions with all ministers on the upcoming budget's priorities. He directed each minister to specify their priorities, explicitly stating that the budget should be aligned with the concerns of the common people.