Not Rs 325 cr, give us Rs 6,000 cr, Kejriwal’s deputy tells Modi govt

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Friday demanded Delhi’s share of Rs 6,000 crore from central taxes and said the city has been getting only Rs 325 crore for the last 18 years.

Sisodia, who also holds finance portfolio in the Arvind Kejriwal government, also demanded the creation of a separate fund for Delhi municipal corporations on the lines of other state civic bodies.

The deputy chief minister made these demands at a pre-budget meeting of finance ministers, convened by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Sitharaman, the first full-time woman finance minister, is set to present her maiden Budget on July 5 in the Lok Sabha.

“At the pre-budget meeting with Union finance minister, I demanded Rs 6,000 for Delhi from central taxes. Delhi has been getting Rs 325 crore for 18 years.

“The people of Delhi give Rs 1.5 lakh crore as central taxes. Other states get 42 per cent of share from central taxes,” Sisodia tweeted in Hindi.

The city government, led by Arvind Kejriwal, had been demanding that the share in central taxes and duties for it be increased. According to it, Delhi’s share in central taxes has remained static at Rs 325 crore since 2001-02.

In interim budget in February this year, the Centre had allocated Rs 1,112 crore for Delhi in the Union Budget, while keeping its share in central taxes and duties unchanged.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)