Delhi’s AAP govt to present its 10th budget; theme around ‘Ram Rajya’

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government will table its annual budget for the financial year 2024-25 on Monday after the finance minister announced that it was approved by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) and the lieutenant governor.
The budget session of the Delhi assembly which began on 15 February had been extended till March 8. A senior Delhi government functionary said that the tenth budget being presented by the AAP government will be themed around “Ram Rajya”.
“The budget will revolve around the concept of Ram Rajya. It will be the tenth budget by the AAP government. We have tried to take care of all sections of the society in the election year,” the functionary said, requesting anonymity.
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Earlier on Saturday, government officials said that the development of unauthorised colonies will likely be a major focal point in the budget and the government may give a fiscal boost for initiatives to uplift such colonies, especially to strengthen their road infrastructure.
“For the fiscal year 2024-25, the Kejriwal government may announce a budgetary package of nearly ₹1,000 crore… likely, strengthening the road network of unauthorised colonies, as well as augmentation of water supply pipelines and sewer networks will take precedence in the government plan for 2024-25,” the official cited above said.
Delhi has nearly 1,800 unauthorised colonies, accommodating 30% of the city’s population. Residents of these colonies are an influential voting bloc that is sought by all political parties.
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Last year, the budget was presented by Kailash Gahlot following the arrest of former finance minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case. Based on the theme “Clean, beautiful, and modern” Delhi, the budget amounted to ₹78,800 crore with a provision of ₹21,000 crore for Delhi’s infrastructure.
This will be the first budget presented by the current finance minister Atishi and the tenth budget of the AAP government which is in its second consecutive tenure.
On the first day of the budget session on February 15, Atishi informed the assembly that the presentation of the budget for the Capital would be delayed, and asked for the session to be extended till the first week of March to complete all proceedings.
“The budget was passed by the cabinet on February 11, and on February 13, it was sent to LG for his assent. We received the LG’s approval on February 14. There has been no delay from the LG’s side, it has been delayed on our part and it will be sent to the MHA for approval,” Atishi had informed the assembly.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had slammed the government for the delay alleging the chief minister was “using the delay as an excuse to not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED)”.
On February 24, LG VK Saxena wrote a letter to Kejriwal flagging a “delay for no apparent reason at the level of the Delhi government” in presenting the annual budget for 2024-25 in the Delhi assembly, adding that the budget has been cleared by the MHA.
Since Delhi is a Union territory with a legislature, the approval of the President through the MHA is required before the budget can be presented in the assembly. In March 2023, the scheduled presentation of Delhi’s annual budget on March 21 was postponed after it emerged a day before that the requisite nod had not been received. It was presented a day later on March 22 as the MHA approved it after the Delhi government provided some clarifications sought by the LG office.