NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Thursday withdrew its earlier order that had capped departmental spending for April at 5 per cent of the total 2025–26 budget estimates. The withdrawal is effective immediately. The latest directive instructs all departments to now follow the financial powers delegated through a 2019 order by then Lieutenant Governor (L-G).
“In continuation of this office order No. F. 1/9/18/2024-25/Fin (B)/Part-file/641-652 dated 31/03/2025 issued with the approval of the Competent Authority, I am directed to convey that the said order is withdrawn with immediate effect. All Administrative Secretaries/HODs shall incur expenditure in accordance with the power delegated under Delegation of Financial Power OM dated 07/08/2019 issued by Finance (Accounts) Department,” the latest order read.
The earlier order, dated March 31, had limited April’s expenditure to just 5 per cent of the total budget allocations, citing the need for effective cash management and mapping of expenditure against available resources. Salaries and wages had been exempted from the restriction. The spending cap had drawn strong criticism from the opposition Aam Aadmi Party.
Leader of Opposition Atishi had accused the BJP-led government of making hollow promises, arguing that the cap effectively reduced the government’s spending potential to just Rs 60,000 crore for the year, far short of the Rs 1 lakh crore projected in the budget.
Government officials have attributed the rollback to practical difficulties in securing administrative approvals for development-related expenditures. They said the cap was hindering the timely sanctioning of funds for various ongoing and planned projects.
“A large portion of the principal budget is being utilised for the operation and maintenance of existing schemes, primarily by the PWD. On top of that, new initiatives like Ayushman Bharat, the setting up of Urban Aarogya Mandirs, infrastructure projects such as new flyovers, and other poll promises require significant investment. With the government working to implement most of these under its 100-day agenda, the cap became unfeasible. So it was rolled back after several review meetings,” a senior government official said.