Centre should stop treating Delhi stepmotherly, says Atishi

New Delhi: Delhi Finance Minister Atishi on Friday demanded Rs 10,000 crore from the Centre for infrastructure development, claiming the city government got nothing in return over the past year despite its income tax contribution of Rs 2 lakh crore.

The Central government should stop treating Delhiites stepmotherly, the minister said and added the city should get its due amount in the Union Budget.

Delhi also provided Rs 25,000 crore as central GST to the pool of taxes, the minister said during a press conference here.

Ahead of the presentation of the Centre’s annual Budget, Atishi batted for release of more money to Delhi, saying it could be spent on infrastructure development in road, transport and power sectors as well as to beautify the city.

Asserting that people of Delhi are the highest income tax payers, the minister said, “Delhi should get Rs 10,000 crore from the Rs 2.07 lakh crores that people of the city pay as income tax. This amount of Rs 10,000 crore is just 0.25 per cent of the Central government’s budget and only 5 per cent of the income tax of Delhiites.” The Monsoon Session of Parliament will begin from July 22. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget on July 23.

Atishi said the Centre receives Rs 5 lakh crore as taxes from Mumbai and in return, Rs 54,000 crores are given to the Maharashtra government by the Centre. Bengaluru like Delhi also contributes Rs 2 lakh crore as taxes and the Centre provides Rs 33,000 crore from its pool of taxes.

On the other hand, the Centre had been paying only Rs 325 crore to the Delhi government since 2001 from the central pool of taxes. However, even this payment was stopped last year and now the city receives not a single rupee from the Centre, she said.

“People of Delhi are not begging but demanding their rights. They want their rightful money in this Union Budget so that pace of development in the city increases,” she said.

The minister said the people of the city paid Rs 35,000 crores in the form of taxes last year to the Delhi government that spent it in on providing facilities like 24-hour free electricity, free treatment at hospitals, building and maintaining roads and flyovers.