Delhi ropes in all departments to seek funding from Centre for capital projects

Officials said that to streamline the process, the government has appointed the Planning Department as the nodal department. All departments have been asked to submit their proposals by this week.

Delhi government, Rekha Gupta, Urban Development Funds, Central Roads Funds, capital projects, PWD, Delhi Jal Board, delhi news, India news, Indian express, current affairs

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta

3 min readNew DelhiApr 17, 2025 05:55 AM IST First published on: Apr 17, 2025 at 05:55 AM IST

In a push for capital projects, the Delhi government has sought proposals from all its departments to seek funding from the Centre.

Officials said the Planning department, headed by the Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, has decided to consider capital schemes and projects of other departments — other than PWD, Delhi Jal Board and Transport — for funding from the Centre, said officials.

While presenting her first Budget for 2025-26, Gupta announced several infrastructure projects that the government aims to implement with the support of the central government. For instance, she allocated Rs 1,000 crore to improve the connectivity of Delhi with areas in the NCR with the support of the Central government by launching infrastructure projects through funds available under Central Roads Funds (CRF) and Urban Development Funds (UDF).

Officials said that to streamline the process, the government has appointed the Planning Department as the nodal department. All departments have been asked to submit their proposals by this week.

Here is how projects will be vetted:

-The departments will initially submit proposals for projects/schemes to the Planning Department, along with a concept paper/preliminary estimate. “In this, each department will have to provide details — a brief description of the project; statement of problem proposed to be addressed; a brief technical description and sub-components; preliminary cost; proposed implementing agency and timeline; cost benefit analysis, if any statutory clearance will be required for the proposed project; and other other relevant points,” said a senior official.

– Next, the department will carry out an initial scrutiny of projects/schemes.

– The proposals will be placed before a state-level High Powered Technical Committee (HPTC), which will be headed by the Delhi Chief Secretary.

– This committee will select projects, which will be sent to the union ministry concerned for consideration of funding after approval of the CM/Minister (Planning), said officials.

The HPTC will comprise 10 members. The chief secretary will be the chairperson, the Director, (Planning), will be the member secretary, and heads of departments will be members.

– The committee may rope in special invitees/experts in the field, as required, said officials. “The HPTC will steer the programme at the state level. Its responsibilities will be to consider the prioritisation of schemes/projects, keeping in view the financial health of the government; assess the proposed welfare scheme/project in terms of optimum target beneficiaries; and consider existing arrangements and gap analysis for implementation of new schemes/projects,” read an official document.

– It will also periodically review these projects after approval by the central government for funding, said officials. “Expenditure shall be incurred as per the delegated financial powers issued by the Finance Department from time to time,” said officials.

As per the Budget Estimates, the BJP government will seek Rs 4,128 crore under Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Rs 7,348 crore under grants-in-aid from the Centre.

“There are several projects in which the Centre helps states, especially capital schemes such as development of roads, footpath cleaning and development, pollution control, procurement of electric buses and e-infrastructure and cleaning of water. The government also has plans to seek financial assistance of Rs 2,000 crore from the Centre to bring Delhi’s water and sewage infrastructure in line with international standards,” said a senior official.