 "Delhi to create separate budget head for funds to NCRTC for RRTS project")
The Delhi government will create a separate head in its Budget Estimate for allocation of funds to the NCRTC for the RRTS project, days after the Supreme Court came down heavily on it for not coming up with funds for the rapid transit corridors to Alwar and Panipat.
The city government released Rs 415 crore to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) for the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project following the top court's rap.
According to an official, the Delhi government's transport department had not allocated funds for the project under any budget head in 2023-24.
"The allocation of funds to the RRTS project was nowhere mentioned in the Budget Estimate that was sent before the budget and even in the subsequent discussions between the finance and the transport departments. It meant that it was completely missed," said the official.
In order to avoid such a recurrence, the finance department has directed the transport department to keep a budget head for the RRTS.
"The finance department has asked the transport department to mention a separate budget head for the RRTS project in the Revised Estimate for the 2023-24 financial year and in the Budget Estimate for the next fiscal," the official added.
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The Delhi government is still to pay Rs 150 crore for the proposed Delhi-Panipat and Delhi-SNB (Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Behror) corridors of the RRTS.
"The finance department has still not received any file from the transport department regarding the release of Rs 150 crore," said the official.
The RRTS project involves construction of semi-high speed rail corridors connecting Delhi to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Alwar in Rajasthan, and Panipat in Haryana.
The apex court had earlier acknowledged the budgetary constraints the city government cited but warned that if such national projects were to be affected and money was spent on ads, it would not refrain from directing that those funds be transferred to this project.
The NCRTC -- a joint venture between the Centre and the states involved -- is executing the RRTS project.