Eye on G20, PWD likely to get larger allocation in Delhi Budget

This is the first time since the AAP came to power in 2015 that the budget will be presented by someone other than former Finance Minister Manish Sisodia.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI last week in a case related to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped liquor policy. Sisodia resigned a couple of days later and his resignation was accepted by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. His cabinet colleague, Satyendar Jain, who has been in jail for the past nine months in an alleged case of money laundering, which is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate, had also submitted his resignation.

The reins of the finance department have been handed over to Gahlot after the resignations. Sources said that a bigger allocation is expected to be made to the Public Works Department in view of the G20 Summit this year. Infrastructure building and revamp projects are in the pipeline this year and the allocation is expected to see an increase, they said.

The budgets for flagship projects in health and education are expected to be at around 20% and 25% this year, sources said.

After getting the finance portfolio, Gahlot held several meetings with the ministry officials. Even before Sisodia’s arrest, Gahlot was part of the budget-related meetings, sources said.

The session, as per usual, will begin with L-G V K Saxena’s address.

The 2022-23 budget was presented on March 26 last year by Sisodia. Called the Rozgar Budget, it was a Rs 75,800-crore budget with a five-year plan to create 20 lakh jobs through initiatives like a new electronic city and promotion of the night economy to boost business and trade activities.