Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday presented a Rs 75,800 crore budget in the Assembly for the financial year 2022-23. "Delhi's economy is recovering gradually from the impact of COVID-19. The budget allocation for 2022-23 is Rs 75,800 crore," Sisodia said in his budget speech.
The budget size for the financial year 2021-22 was Rs 69,000 crore.
The budget size for 2022-23 is 9.86 per cent higher than the previous year. This is the eighth consecutive budget of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. Sisodia said the 2022-23 budget is a "Rozgar Budget".
He also said the per capita income of Delhi is 2.7 per cent higher than the national average. "In the last seven years, the government has provided employment in schools, colleges, universities and government departments," Sisodia said.
"About 25,000 teachers were deployed on an ad-hoc basis and 10 lakh people got jobs in private sectors after COVID," he said added.
"Today we are presenting 'Rozgaar Budget' which aims to accelerate economic welfare. Through 'Rozgaar budget' we aim to generate 5 lakh more jobs in the next five years. I will put plans to take the economy of Delhi on the path of progress and generate lakhs of employment opportunities out of this progress," said Sisodia.
He further said that more than 1.78 lakh youngsters got employment in the last seven years in Delhi.
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In addition to these 51,307 permanent government jobs, around 2,500 permanent jobs have been given in the Universities under the Delhi Government. About 3,000 permanent jobs have been given in Delhi hospitals too," he added.
He said that through the 'Delhi Rozgar' Portal, 10 lakh jobs in the private sector were created in the post-COVID period.
The Finance Minister said that the economy of Delhi is slowly emerging from challenges amid the five waves of COVID-19 and due to this the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Delhi at the current market prices is likely to increase from Rs 7,85,342 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 9,23,967 crore in 2021-22. There was an increase of 17.65 per cent as compared to last year, he said.
"The real growth rate of Delhi's GSDP in the year 2021-22 is likely to be 10.23 per cent whereas, at the national level, this growth rate is estimated to be 8.9 per cent. We are again reaching the level of pre-pandemic economic activities," he added.
Sisodia said that the contribution of Delhi's real Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the national level has increased from 3.94 per cent in 2011-12 to 4.21 per cent in 2021-22, whereas Delhi is only 1.52 per cent of the total population of the country.
"Delhi's per capita income is likely to increase to Rs 4,01,982 at current prices in the financial year 2021-22. In the year 2020-21, it was Rs 3,44,136. This shows an increase of 16.81 per cent in Delhi's per capita income in 2021-22," the minister said.
He further said that Delhi's per capita income for the year 2021-22 is almost 2.7 times higher than the national average of Rs 1,49,848. Sisodia also proposed to set up an electronic city in the national capital to create 80,000 jobs.
The electronic city will come up at Baprola. "We will set up an electronic city at Baprola in Delhi to create 80,000 jobs through electronics manufacturing," Sisodia said in his budget speech. He said the move will also attract IT companies to the national capital.
"We intend to build the electronic city to create jobs. We will also set up a 90-acre plug-and-play manufacturing centre to attract electronic companies to set up base in Delhi. The redevelopment of the non-conforming industrial areas will be done to create six lakh new jobs," Sisodia said.
"Under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, we are aiming to increase the percentage of the working population of Delhi from the current 33 per cent to 45 per cent in the next five years," Sisodia said.
That is, out of the total population of 1 crore 68 lakh people of Delhi, these 56 lakh people who do some employment at present, we will have to increase their number to 76 lakhs, he added.
He said that the government has chosen the retail sector, food and beverages, logistic and supply chain, travel and tourism, entertainment, construction, real estate and green energy sectors as a priority to create new jobs.
An amount of Rs 250 crore has been allocated for this in the 2022-23 budget. "Other states have learnt a lot from the Kejriwal model of governance when it comes to improving government schools and creating jobs. I am sure that with this 'Rozgar Budget', Delhiites will be benefitted. In the next one or two years, state governments will also learn from this (Rozgar Budget) on how both government and private sectors can provide opportunities for people," Sisodia said during his budget speech.
He said an artificial intelligence-based website and a mobile application -- "Rozgar Bazaar 2.0" -- will be launched with an aim to provide at least one lakh jobs every year to the youngsters of Delhi, especially women.
An electronic city will be set up at Baprola to create 80,000 jobs by attracting big IT companies, Sisodia said, adding that a "food truck policy" will also be introduced under which local delicacies will be promoted.
These food trucks will be allowed on streets from 8 pm to 2 am, a move that is aimed at promoting night economy in the national capital.
The deputy chief minister said smart urban farming will be promoted and turned into a mass movement in association with the Pusa Institute, adding that 25,000 new jobs are expected to be created.
The Delhi government will conduct an employment audit of the budget allocations for its departments and agencies. Talking about the budget allocation for the health sector, Sisodia said an amount of Rs 1,900 crore has been proposed to upgrade the state-run hospitals.
An amount of Rs 475 crore has been set aside for "Mohalla Clinics" and polyclinics in the 2022-23 budget. "We have dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, but all of us are aware of the severe damage it has caused to the social and economic progress of the country. Delhi is no exception to this," he said.
The deputy chief minister said drinking water availability has increased by 10 per cent, adding that the Yamuna river will be completely cleaned in the next two years.
(With PTI and ANI Inputs)