Text of The Speech of The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley for The Budget of the Government of The National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi for the Year 2014-15

Following is the text of the speech of the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley while presenting the Budget of the Government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi for the Year 2014-15 in Lok Sabha here today:

 “Madam Speaker,

I rise to present the Budget of the Government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi for the year 2014-15.

Hon’ble Members of this August House are aware that President’s Rule was imposed in the National Capital Territory of Delhi under Article 239 AB of the Constitution on 16th February, 2014.  The Delhi Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2014 to provide for the withdrawal of certain sums  from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the NCT of Delhi for their services for the period of first six months of the financial year 2014-15 was passed by both the Houses of the Parliament on 21st February, 2014.

The President’s Rule in the NCT of Delhi continues, and therefore, the budget of NCT of Delhi is required to be passed by the Parliament during the current session.

Budget Estimates 2014-15

The total Budget Estimate for the Government of NCT of Delhi for the year 2014-15 is ₹ 36766 crore. It includes ₹ 19066 Crore Non-Plan expenditure and ₹ 17700 crore Plan expenditure.

The proposed total expenditure of ₹ 36766 crore during the year 2014-15 will be financed by ₹ 31571 crore from tax revenue, ₹ 1161.01 crore from non-tax revenue, ₹ 699.71 crore from capital receipt and ₹ 3672.09 crore from Central Government as Grant-in-Aid.

The non-plan expenditure mainly includes ₹ 2979 crore as devolution of taxes to local bodies, ₹ 1401 crore as share of stamps & registration fees and motor vehicle tax to local bodies, ₹ 839 crore to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) to meet their operating deficit and cost of concessional passes, ₹ 4956crore as payment of interest and repayment of loan to the Govt. of India and ₹ 260 crore towards power subsidy to consumers.

The outstanding debt of Government of NCT of Delhi will be reduced from ₹ 32080.30 crore as on 31st March 2014 to ₹ 30404 crore at the end of the current financial year. The outstanding debt–GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio of Government of NCT of Delhi is 7.93%, one of the lowest compared to other states.

Health

Delhi is emerging as a major health care hub in the country, with a robust urban health care system and a vibrant private sector presence. Delhi Government has developed an extensive public health infrastructure with 32 multi-specialty hospitals and 6 super specialty hospitals, providing over 10,000 beds, and a chain of 260 allopathic and 150 AYUSH dispensaries, managed by over 20,000 doctors and allied health workers.

Government of NCT of Delhi is striving to enhance the number of hospitals beds; hospital projects for ₹ 940 crore are currently under execution which would provide over 1400 additional beds. Through concerted efforts, over 900 doctors and 1100 nurses have been recruited for various health facilities in the past few months. Two of the largest hospitals, Lok Nayak Hospital and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, which together cater to about a third of the patient load of hospitals of the Delhi Government are being transformed into model healthcare centres and systems are being put in place for providing better quality healthcare. A new medical college with 100 seats will be started at Rohini and efforts will be made to ensure that the first batch of students are admitted by 2015.

Considering the paucity of good health facilities under Government sector in South Delhi and the felt need of the area, Government propose to sanction one multi-speciality hospital for South Delhi in the current year.

Government has taken several patient-centric initiatives during the past few months for patient care. Thirty dialysis units have been successfully commissioned under public private partnership for providing free dialysis to poor patients suffering from kidney failure and 50 more units will be added in the current year. To provide prompt trauma care, 110 new ambulances fitted with state-of-the-art life support equipment will be inducted in the Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) fleet. Online facility has also been launched for OPD (Out Patient Department) registration. Issuing of free birth registration certificate at the time of discharge of the mother and the newborn baby from the Government hospitals has also been started.

Government proposes to set up, one stop centres for crisis management and rehabilitation of victims of sexual assault, in each district in government hospitals. Three such centres at Deen Dayal Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital will become functional in the next three months ,where the victims can be provided proper medical care along with legal and psycho-social counseling and support in a secure, gender friendly environment. Central Government  has already committed its support to provide these in this financial year.

As part of Government of NCT of Delhi‘s attempt to provide quality medical care to the poor, vulnerable, over 10 lakh OPD (Out Patient Department) patients and 32,000 IPD (In Patient Department) patients from economically weaker sections were provided free medical care in private hospitals of Delhi during the past one year. To help them further, online facility has been launched to book beds for eligible poor patients in such hospitals.

Keeping in view the quantum of work load with existing Forensic Science Laboratory, the Government of NCT of Delhi propose to set up three more Forensic Science Laboratories for which land at Sheikh Sarai, Rohini and Village Sayurpur at a cost of ₹ 11.25 crore has been purchased. Till the construction of buildings is completed, one more regional Forensic Science Laboratory at Chanakya Puri will be made functional in a rented accommodation during the current financial year.

I propose a Plan Outlay of ₹ 2724 crore for the Health sector during 2014-15 which is approximately 16.3% of plan outlay (excluding CSS).

Education

The existing educational infrastructure in the Capital requires additional support. The enrolment in Government schools is increasing approximately at the rate of 1 lakh every year and Delhi needs around 500 new schools, as per RTE norms .To meet this challenge, in the first phase, construction work of 20 new schools will be started during the current financial year .I propose to allot a sum of ₹ 350 crore for this purpose.

The Government is equally committed to promote girls education. There are 380 Senior Secondary Schools exclusively for girls in 68 Assembly Constituencies. In the remaining two Assembly Constituencies also, Senior Secondary Schools exclusively for girls would be opened to promote girls education.

Special emphasis is being given on improving the sanitary conditions in Government schools.  Necessary measures will be taken to construct, repair and setup ensure fully functional and clean toilets in all the schools in the current financial year.

Quality education depends on quality of teaching. To enhance the quality of teaching, the Government of NCT of Delhi will focus on training of teachers in course content, teaching skills and creating better teaching environment in Government schools. In the current year, training will be imparted to 20318 teachers through State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).

The students in the Government schools of NCT of Delhi are being taught Urdu, Punjabi and Sanskrit as third language. To promote these languages additional Urdu, Punjabi and Sanskrit teachers will be provided.

The Government of NCT of Delhi is committed to create quality infrastructure for higher and technical education. Educated and skilled youth are the backbone of a vibrant economy. A Skill Development Centre is proposed to be setup under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Mode for which 37 acres of land has been acquired. This centre would train approximately 15000 students per year in various trades based on the needs of Industry.

Delhi inhabits a lot of linguistic communities and has four Academies of Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi and Hindi. It is proposed to take up project based financial support to these academies in the current financial year.

A new School of Planning, Architecture and Design at a cost of ₹ 285 crore will be setup in East Delhi by Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.

The construction of new buildings for Deen Dayal Upadhyay College at a cost of ₹ 151 crore at Dwarka and Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies at Rohini at a cost of ₹ 132crore is in progress. Further, Government of NCT of Delhi has acquired 51 acres of land at a cost of ₹ 158 crore for National Institute of Technology (NIT) Delhi at Narela. Construction of the NIT, Delhi complex will be expedited.

I propose a Plan Outlay of ₹ 2482 crore for the Education sector during 2014-15 which is approximately 14.8% of plan outlay (excluding CSS).

Social Security & Welfare

Mahatma Gandhi said “Poverty is the worst form of Violence” and “The measure of a country`s greatness should be based on how well it cares for its most vulnerable population”. Government is fully sensitive to the needs of the poor and the vulnerable. I therefore propose a Plan Outlay of ₹ 1862 crore for the Social Security and Welfare sector during 2014-15 which is approximately 11.1% of plan outlay (excluding CSS).

The children of incarcerated parents face very difficult situations. Government proposes to provide financial support to two children of such parents till they attain the age of 18 years or till their parents are released whichever is earlier.

One of the most important concerns of Delhi Police has been the safety and security of women. Several steps have been taken to instill confidence in the minds of girls and women. These include setting up of women helpline in each police station, increasing of women helpline numbers, security audit of paying guest accommodation and girl hostels, deployment of women police personnel in PCR (Police Control Room) vans at vulnerable places and in areas prone to crime against women. During the current year 8124 girls have been imparted self defence training and 4925 police officials have attended gender sensitization programme. Various initiatives have been taken to expedite investigation of crimes against women. The process for recruitment of 155 women sub-inspectors and 1434 women constables is on and these women police officials are expected to join Delhi Police in 2014-15.

In Delhi about 36 lakh people are receiving benefits under National Food Security Act. Process for inclusion of remaining eligible households is underway. All eligible beneficiaries will be covered under Food Security Scheme in next few months. All the 2500 fair price shops will be computerized and daily sale from these fair price shops will be monitored online to ensure more transparent distribution of food grains to eligible households. All the 300 vehicles deployed for transportation of food articles from Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns to fair price shops will be covered by a GPS – RFID (Global Positioning System – Radio Frequency Identification) based vehicle tracking system.

Government of NCT of Delhi is providing monthly pension of ₹ 1000 to senior citizens of 60-69 years and ₹ 1500 to 70 years and above. At present about 3.90 lakh senior citizens are being benefitted. Keeping in view the number of aspirants, we propose to increase the number of beneficiaries from 3.90 lakh to 4.30 lakh from this financial year. I propose to increase plan outlay under Pension to Senior Citizens from ₹ 538crore in 2013-14 to ₹ 600 crore in 2014-15.

There are about 906 mentally challenged inmates of all age groups admitted against the intake capacity of 350 inmates at Asha Kiran, a Delhi Government’s centre for their care and rehabilitation. It is proposed to set up three more new homes for such challenged persons at different locations in Delhi.

At present two working women hostels constructed by the Government of NCT of Delhi at Rohini and Vishwas Nagar are providing safe and comfortable hostel facilities to the working women. Keeping in view the large number of needy women, it is proposed to setup six more such working women hostels under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

Housing & Urban Development

Providing shelters to shelterless persons is one of the major concerns of the Government. At present 185 night shelters are operational in Delhi. Land has been purchased for construction of seven more night shelters. They will be constructed in the current financial year. The requirement of different groups amongst homeless such as women, children, drug-addicts etc. will also be taken care of. Our endeavour shall be to ensure that all homeless have adequate shelter and basic facilities available to them.

A large number of slum dwellers residing in JhuggiJhopri (JJ) clusters do not have access to toilets. The lack of toilets not only creates health problem but also raises concern about the safety of women. The Government of NCT of Delhi will endeavour to provide toilet facilities to all slum dwellers in Delhi in the current financial year. I propose to increase the plan outlay for this purpose from ₹ 17 crore in 2013-14 to ₹ 35 crore in the current financial year.

Another major issue in the housing sector is to make available adequate number of Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) houses to check the problem of encroachment on public land and emergence of unauthorized colonies. The Government of NCT of Delhi is constructing about 58064 EWS houses under JNNURM, out of which 14844 EWS houses have been completed. Steps are being taken to complete the remaining EWS Houses.

Development of unauthorized colonies and their regularization is one of the major challenges. Government of NCT of Delhi will provide essential services in unauthorized colonies in a time bound manner. Piped water supply system will be provided in 50 unauthorized colonies and sewerage system will be laid in 95 unauthorized colonies and a Plan Outlay of ₹ 711 crore is allocated for providing essential services in unauthorized colonies during the current financial year. 

I propose a Plan Outlay of ₹ 2154 crore for the Housing & Urban Development Sector during 2014-15.

Water Supply

The treated and safe water supply capacity could not be increased in Delhi since 2007, although the population has been increasing each year. We have analyzed the total water scenario of Delhi and decided to resolve the water problems by undertaking the following programmes :-

• We will endeavour to ensure that the pucca parallel channel from Munak to Haiderpuris made functional after resolving the issue with Haryana Government. This will make available 80 MGD (Million Gallonsper Day) raw water for newly constructed water treatment plants at Dwarka (40 MGD), Okhla (20 MGD) and Bawana (20 MGD) for a population of about 35 lakhs living in South, South-West, West and North-West parts of Delhi.
• To solve the long term water supply issues to the capital region, construction of long pending Renuka Dam would be taken up on priority. While presenting the Union Budget 2014-15 on July 10, 2014, I have proposed to provide aninitial sum of ₹ 50 crore for this purpose.  
• In addition to raw water resources to be made available, the present water treatment, trunk, peripheral and distribution system will be improved. This programme includes complete renovation and modernization of Chandrawal Water Treatment Plant at a cost of ₹ 2018 crore and Wazirabad Water Treatment Plant at a cost of ₹ 2243 crore under Externally Aided Project (EAP) to be partly funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) respectively.
• To provide drinking water facility at an affordable price in water deficient areas, small sized decentralized drinking water Reverse Osmosis (RO) based plants will be set up and drinking water will be made available through water Automated Teller Machines (ATM). About 500 ATMs supported with ground water/tanker services will be setup in 2014-15.

I propose a Plan Outlay of ₹ 1249.20 crore for the Water Supply sector during 2014-15.

Sanitation& Control of Pollution in Yamuna

I consider it imperative to ensure the development of Yamuna and tackle the issue of its pollution. Sewerage Treatment Plants (STP) at Pappan Kalan, Nilothi, Yamuna Vihar and Delhi Gate will be commissioned by the end of this year. This will increase the sewerage treatment capacity from the present level of 604 MGD to684 MGD.Old STP and their allied infrastructure at Kondli, Rithala and Okhla shall be rehabilitated under Yamuna Action Plan (YAP-III).

A 40 MGD STP is planned with technical support of Singapore Government for achieving tertiary quality of treated effluent. This treated effluent is proposed to be discharged into Yamuna river at Palla, so as to have more raw water and lifted at Wazirabad Water Treatment Plant (WTP) for treatment.

The laying of interceptor sewer along with three major drains at a cost of ₹ 1976 crore will be completed in phases by June, 2015. It will ensure that only treated waste water is discharged into river Yamuna by each of the drain, thus improving the quality of water in river Yamuna.

It is proposed to source National and international technical expertise by Government of NCT of Delhi for ecological rejuvenation of the Yamuna River.  I also propose to take up beautification of Riverbanks in Delhi.

I propose a Plan Outlay of ₹ 750.80 crore for the Sewerage Sector during 2014-15.       

Transport

Road transport is still the preferred mode of public transport in Delhi. However, out of a total fleet of about 5000 Buses, about 1300 are old standard buses with DTC fleet which need to be replaced immediately. In order to provide better transport to the commuters Tenders have been floated for procurement of 1380 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 so that commuters may conveniently use both mode of public transport in Delhi.

To make available more buses to the commuters, private sector corporate operators will add 400 new Cluster Buses making a fleet of about 1600 Cluster Buses during this financial year.

All Regional Offices of the Transport Department are being renovated and modernized so as to provide convenient and timely services to the citizens of Delhi visiting these offices.

The Inter State Bus Terminals (ISBT) at Sarai Kale Khan and Anand Vihar are functioning without suitable infrastructure. New Inter State Bus Terminals at these two sites will be developed so that commuters can avail better services.

The work on construction of phase-II of elevated corridor over Barapullah Nullah at a cost of ₹ 533 crore is in progress. This elevated corridor will further be extended from Sarai Kale Khan to Mayur Vihar under phase - III.

Due to rapid increase in volume of road traffic, a number of intersections having single carriage way flyover need to be added with dual carriage way flyovers.  Construction of some of the selected flyovers will be taken up on priority.

I propose a Plan Outlay of ₹ 3702 crore for the Transport Sector during 2014-15.

Energy

To improve the transmission and distribution network, Delhi Transco Limited (DTL) is going to commission a new 400 KV sub-station at Harsh Vihar and 220 KV GIS (Gas Insulated Switch gear) sub-station at Peera Garhi. It is also proposed to take up the construction of three new 220 KV GIS sub-stations at Papankalan, Tughlakabad and Rajghat Power House in the current financial year.

The 1500 MW Gas Turbine Station commissioned at Bawana is yet to be made functional to its full capacity and efforts will be made to sort out the issue of adequate gas supply at reasonable cost to make this plant fully functional.

Under Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Management Programme, Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) plant of 335 kwp (kilowatt peak) at eight locations and 100 kwp SPV plant at Vikas Bhawan – II have been commissioned. Further, 130 kwp SPV plant at ISBT Kashmere Gate is under installation. SPV plants of 10 kwp at Delhi Secretariat and 25 kwp at four Government hospitals and 10 kwp SPV plant at four Government schools will be taken up in the current year.

It is proposed to develop New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area as a solar city under the scheme of Development of Solar cities of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Increase in power tariffs are necessitated due to increase in input costs. However, the poor and marginalized should not suffer. I therefore, propose power subsidy of ₹ 260 crore for the domestic consumers to provide relief to the targeted consumers on account of increase in tariff. The modalities will be worked out by the Government of NCT of Delhi.

I propose a Plan Outlay of ₹ 675 crore for the Energy Sector during 2014-15.

While presenting the Union Budget 2014-15 on July 10, 2014, I have already proposed to provide ₹ 200 crore for power reforms and ₹ 500 crore for water reforms in NCT of Delhi.

I do not propose any new tax or increase in the present tax rates in the budget of Government of NCT of Delhi. I have highlighted some of the major plan programmes of Government of NCT of Delhi proposed to be funded by this budget.

Madam Speaker, with these words I commend the Budget to the House.”