NEW DELHI: With the state economy suffering heavy losses in the past two years due to Covid pandemic, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said efforts would be made to bring it back on track in the next financial year.
After a high-level review meeting with officials of the finance and planning department, Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, said the focus would be on developing Delhi as a hub of business and services in 2022-23. The Kejriwal government will also focus on industrial development, he added.
The financial years of 2020-21 and 2021-22 have been quite bad for the state economy due to Covid-induced restrictions on various businesses. In 2020-21, there was a shortfall of 34% in the state’s revenue collection due to almost non-functional economy in the first quarter. The revenue collection has been better in the current fiscal in comparison to the last one.
The AAP government had presented a budget of Rs 69,000 crore for the financial year of 2021-22, which was 16% higher than the revised estimates of 2020-21. The budget for 2022-23 is likely to go up further, said finance department officials.
After the review meeting, Sisodia said the Delhi budget would be special and would foster the economic growth of the national capital. He added that the planning department had done a few studies and based on its findings, the government was trying to understand what innovative ways could be introduced to boost the capital’s economy and increase job opportunities.
The deputy CM further said that there would be focus on various schemes of public welfare, including education, health, electricity and clean drinking water, in the upcoming budget. “The necessities of all state residents will be kept in mind while preparing this year’s budget, which will help them recover from the pandemic-led economic crisis,” Sisodia said.
