Free power, water, travel, and more: Delhi subsidy bill up 600 pc in 10 Years
Delhi under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has shot up more than 600% over the past 10 years.
Budget with ET
Sitharaman likely to give India’s ‘Aam Aadmi’ what they want in Budget?
Can Budget 2025 address India's unemployment woes?
Can the Budget provide a delta to the China plus one effort?
Even as political parties compete with each other in promising freebies in the run-up to the February 5 Delhi assembly election, a closer look at Delhi's finances shows that subsidies have been bleeding the state's coffers. The subsidy bill has surged about 607% to ₹10,995.34 crore in the current financial year from ₹1,554.72 crore in 2014-15, when Delhi was under a year-long President's rule. The statistics gain significance as Delhi is projected to slip into a revenue deficit by the end of 2025-26 for the first time in three decades.
The Delhi government gives subsidies under 27 schemes of nine departments. These include the signature freebies of the AAP government — free water, electricity and bus travel for women. When the AAP came to power in February 2015, it rolled out 20,000 litres of water free of cost every month and 200 units of free power (a 50%subsidy is offered to those who consume 201-400 units per month). In 2014-15, the power subsidy bill was ₹291.94 crore, which saw a 394.2% increase within one fiscal to ₹1,442.76 crore as soon as the AAP government came to power in February 2015 and introduced its flagship schemes. This power subsidy has only seen an upward trend as more consumers have benefitted. It has ballooned
Read more on economictimes.indiatimes.com
