Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, March 22: The Delhi government on Wednesday presented Rs 78,800 crore budget for the financial year 2023-24 on Wednesday, two days after the deadlock between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Centre over excessive spending allocations for marketing and promotions.
Delhi Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot, while presenting the budget said that the Yamuna River cleanup is a priority and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the city government will cooperate to clean up three major landfills in Delhi.
Gahlot praised the Delhi style of governance and said that the AAP government had zero tolerance for corruption. The recently opened Ashram flyover was among the government’s infrastructure initiatives that the finance minister praised for ensuring efficient citywide transportation.
“The network of Delhi Metro doubled between 2015-23. Today the number of buses has increased to 7,379, which is the highest. Today the govt has made Delhi a city of tricolors. The upcoming budget is important for Delhi as we are hosting the G20. So this budget is dedicated to a clean, beautiful and modern Delhi,” said Delhi Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot.
“I would have been happier if Manish Sisodia had presented the budget. He is my elder brother. I am sure the best wishes of children all over the world are with Manish Sisodia. This is the 9th budget of the Delhi government and my first,” he added.
Notably, the budget was originally scheduled to be presented on March 21 but was put on hold by the MHA which sought clarification from AAP over the advertisements and infrastructure funds. Later that day MHA approved the budget after CM Kejriwal urged the PM in his letter to him.
Kailash Gahlot, the finance minister for Delhi, suggested several significant programmes in the budget. Which are:
– Building of 26 new flyover, underpass, and bridge projects in various regions of Delhi;
-Upgrading and beautifying 1,400 km of the whole PWD road network
-Building Three distinctive double-decker flyovers,
– 1,600 new zero-emission electric buses to be introduced,
-57 old bus depots in Delhi to be electrified,
-three world-class inter-state bus terminals to be built,
-three rubbish dumps in Delhi are to be cleared.