Budget File Received at 9:25 P.M., Sent Back after Approval at 10:05 P.M.: L-G House

New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) After the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi on Monday claimed that the Ministry of Home Affairs has put on hold its Budget presentation scheduled on Tuesday, the L-G office refuted the claim and said that the file was recieved at the L-G Secretariat at 9:25 p.m. on Monday and was sent back to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at 10:05 p.m. after approval by Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena.

An official at the L-G House said that Saxena had approved the Annual Financial Statement 2023-2024 with certain observations and the file was sent back to the Chief Minister on March 9.

The Delhi government thereafter sought the approval of the President by sending a letter to the Home Ministry. The Home Ministry conveyed its observations to the Delhi government on March 17, added the official.

"As against the proposed Budget size of Rs 78,800 crore, the expenditure on capital components is indicated at Rs 21,816 crore, which is only 27.68 per cent of the Budget. Further, this also includes Rs 5,586.92 crore on account of loan repayment, which, if excluded, will further reduce the capital component to Rs 16,230 crore which is only 20 per cent of the Budget," Saxena noted in his approval.

The L-G added, "Since Delhi is the country's capital and also a large metropolis in which need for creation and improvement of infrastructure is extremely important, the allocation for capital projects does not appear to be sufficient.

"It is noted that expenditure incurred by the Directorate of Information & Publicity as per the Revised Estimate 2022-23 is Rs 272.21 crore against the Budget Estimate of Rs 511.64 crore. However, the allocation for the Budget Estimate 2023-24 is Rs 557.24 crore, which seems incomprehensible and unjustifiable."

Meanwhile, Delhi's Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot said earlier on Monday that nearly Rs 22,000 crore has been allocated for capital expenditure next year, whereas the allocation for advertisements is only Rs 550 crore, which is similar to that of last year.

The concerns raised by the MHA are irrelevant and seemingly done only to scuttle Delhi government's Budget for next year, Gahlot said.