Delhi Budget 2024: Focus on women, health, education, and infrastructure development | Key highlights 

The scheme will not be extended to women who are either currently part of any Government pension scheme, or are Government employees or are an income tax payer. For this, the government aims to spend ₹2000 crore in the fiscal year.

Apart from this, health and education continue to be top priorities, Delhi has set aside ₹16,396 crores for education sector.

The education budget talks about the performance to the fact that, “Until 2014-15, the Government schools in Delhi had only 24,000 rooms available for the education of children. In last 9 years, the Government has built 22,711 new classrooms. Under Schools of Specialised Excellence, 38 school campuses have been established across Delhi in 56 domains, including STEM, Humanities, Performing and Visual Arts, and High-End 21st Century Skills. A budget of ₹42 crores has been proposed for SoSEs in 2024-25,” a press statement issued by Delhi Government said.

Not just this, "Before 2015, Delhi Government schools had 34,182 regular teachers. Now, there are 47,914 regular teachers in Delhi Government schools, and the recruitment process for approximately 7,000 more is underway. In technical education, the number of seats has increased from 12,204 in 2014-15 to 62,000 in 2023-24. Prioritizing world-class teacher training, ₹100 crores is allocated to SCERT in budget 2024- 25. ₹150 crores is proposed for the construction of new schools and classrooms and ₹45 crores for the maintenance of existing classrooms. A budget of ₹12 crore is proposed for construction of a new studio, creation of infrastructure and developing learning material for Delhi Model Virtual School (DMVS). A provision of ₹40 crore has been made for the Entrepreneurship Development Program in the Budget Estimate 2024-25."

The focus has also been on the fact that "The ‘Chief Minister Super Talented Coaching Scheme’ aids students studying in Government schools in preparation for JEE (Main/Advanced) and NEET examinations, under which, 600 students have been selected for scholarships in the financial year 2023-24. A budget of ₹6 crores is allocated for this scheme in the financial year 2024-25. To provide better sports facilities to athletes in Delhi, a budget of ₹118 crores is proposed for sports education in 2024-25," the statement said.

The next big priority on the list of Delhi government continues to be health sector where the state has set aside ₹8,685 crores.

According to the Delhi government, there are 38 hospitals under its ambit where treatment is provided free of cost to more than 81,000 OPD patients daily and 65,806 IPD patients monthly. In 2014, Delhi's Government hospitals had 9,523 beds, whereas now, Delhi's Government hospitals have 13,708 beds, enabling Government to care for 1.5 times more patients. In 2014, the Government had about 155 CATS ambulances, whereas today, there are 380 CATS ambulances in Delhi. In 2024-25, an allocation of ₹194 crores is proposed for the purchase of new ambulances for Centralized Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) in Delhi.

Mohalla Clinics has been another area of achievement for the AAP lead Delhi government. “530 Mohalla Clinics opened in Delhi, where every day, 64,000 people receive free medicines, tests, and treatment. A budget of ₹212 crores is proposed in 2024-25, to ensure that the people of Delhi continue to receive excellent medical treatment through the Mohalla Clinics,” said the press statement.

The elephant’s share of the health outlay worth ₹6,215 crores is proposed for hospitals to maintain good facilities and ensure that Delhi Government hospitals remain world-class in the upcoming fiscal year.

A budget of ₹400 crores is proposed for the construction of new hospitals and the expansion of existing hospitals through remodelling, the Delhi government said. Currently, 11 new hospitals are under construction in Delhi, which will lead to the addition of 11,500 beds to the City’s healthcare system. Existing hospitals will also be remodelled to raise our bed-capacity.

Further, an allocation of ₹80 crores is proposed to make free healthcare services available through the Delhi Arogya Kosh.

Next comes, the enhancement of transport infrastructure, AAP has proposed to spend ₹5,702 crore, where Delhi government aims to procure 2080 nine-meter e-buses, which will be used as mohalla buses for last-mile connectivity. Apart from this, by 2025, Delhi will have more than 10,000 buses, out of which 80% will be electric buses. Delhi will spend ₹510 crores for electric buses during 2024-25 and ₹340 crore to continue the scheme of free bus travel for women. Delhi govt will also work on improvement of road infra in villages and proposes to develop better roads by laying about 1000 kilometers of roads in more than 360 villages of the state. This will give a great boost to village economy. For the development of the villages of Delhi, a budget of ₹900 crore is set aside for FY 2024-25.

Approximately 11 lakh women travel for free on DTC & Cluster buses every day. In the past 9 years, the Delhi Metro network has doubled in length, reaching 393 kilometers, and the number of stations has increased to 288.

Delhi government claims that With a fleet of 1650 e-buses, Delhi is now ranked third among the world's cities. Today, Delhi has a remarkable fleet of 7582 buses, the highest in the history of Delhi. Delhi has a bus fleet of 7582 buses currently, which is being used by more than 41 lakh passengers on a daily basis. To expand this fleet further, a Concession Agreement for the engagement of 1,900 new e-buses has been signed.

Delhi government has stated that an MoU will be signed for the construction of three corridors under the work on Phase-4 of Delhi Metro namely Janakpuri West to Ramakrishna Ashram Corridor, Delhi Aerocity to Tughlakabad Station Corridor, Majlis Park to Maujpur Corridor. There will be 45 stations on these three metro corridors totalling 65.20 kilometers. In 2024-25, an outlay of ₹500 crore is proposed for Delhi Metro.

❖ Under the Mukhyamantri Teerthyatra Yojna, 87,000 elderly people and their families have gone on pilgrimages through 92 trains since 2019.

❖ A budget of ₹80 crores is proposed in 2024-25 for this scheme.

❖ In the past 9 years, the Government has provided an ex-gratia amount of ₹1 crore to families of 35 martyrs. The Government also honors the families of COVID front-line workers. Families of 92 COVID warriors who sacrificed their lives during the pandemic have received Chief Minister's assistance and ex-gratia of ₹1 crore each.

❖ In the fiscal year 2014-15, the budget for the justice system was ₹760 crores, and in 2024-25, it has increased by nearly 4 times, reaching ₹3,098 crores. Over this period, the number of courtrooms in Delhi has risen from 512 in 2014 to 749 today. The number of judges has also increased from 526 in 2014 to 840 in 2024.

❖ In 2024-25, the Government is going to start the construction of four state-of-the-art court complexes in Rohini, Karkardooma, Shastri Park, and Rouse Avenue. This will lead to an increase of 250 courtrooms in Delhi.

❖ A new scheme for hybrid hearings in district courts is proposed and a share of ₹100 crore has been earmarked for this scheme in the budget estimate for 2024-25.

❖ The number of people receiving free legal services through DSLSA was only 33,000 in 2016, while last year the number increased to almost four times, reaching 1,25,000. For this, we are proposing a budget of Rs 160.95 crore.

❖ Under Business Blasters program, around 2,40,000 students formed 38,000 teams in the academic year 2023-24, and worked on their business ideas. For 2024-25, a budget of ₹40 crores is allocated to this scheme.

❖ Drawing inspiration from the entrepreneurship revolution introduced in Delhi Government schools, from 2024-25, ‘Business Blasters Senior’ will be launched in all universities under which, the Government will invest ₹15 crores in the start-ups of Delhi Government universities during 2024-25

❖ In 2023-24, Delhi successfully met its peak power demand of 7,438 MW on without any load shedding.

❖ More than 22 lakh families receive zero electricity bills and 40.22 lakh domestic electricity consumers are getting the benefits of electricity subsidy from the Delhi Government.

❖ About 30% of Delhi's power supply comes from green and renewable energy.

❖ Solar rooftop plants are installed on the roofs of 1280 Government buildings in Delhi, and by 2024-25, every building under the Delhi Government will have solar plants on its roof. The Delhi Government aims to have solar plants on the roofs of every building belonging to Delhi Government, with a target of 4500 MW, or 25% of the total power supply, coming from green energy by 2027.

❖ A budget of ₹3,353 crores is proposed in 2024-25 for the Power sector.

❖ Approximately 62.5% of homes in Delhi, which is around 17 lakh families, receive water completely free of cost.

❖ The water availability in Delhi has increased from 840 MGD to 1009 MGD.

❖ 99.6% of unauthorized colonies have water pipelines.

❖ After 2014, the Government has laid 2422 kilometers of new water pipelines and 3100 kilometers of new sewer pipelines.

❖ To ensure the right to water and sewerage facilities for every household in Delhi, a budget of ₹7,195 crores is proposed for the Delhi Jal Board in the fiscal year 2024-25.

❖ The Delhi Government has also focused on building internal roads that connect colonies. Under the ‘Mukhyamantri Sadak Punarnirman Yojana’, approximately 850 kilometers of roads have been constructed so far and the condition of roads and streets of Delhi are being continuously improved and the roads have been made safe by reducing dark spots. ₹275 crores is proposed in the Budget Estimate 2024-25 for this scheme.

❖ Under the 'Strengthening and augmentation of infrastructure' scheme, also known as the MLALAD scheme, 1,002 new projects have been approved for the year 2023-24, out of which 717 projects have been completed. In order to continue this development work, ₹400 crore under the MLALAD scheme is proposed in the Budget Estimate 2024-25.

❖ ₹9,800 crores is proposed for schemes in the Housing and Urban Development sector in the financial year 2024-25.

❖ UNAUTHORIZED COLONIES - Along with increasing drains and water lines in unauthorized colonies, the Government has built 5175 kilometers of roads in 1355 such colonies. A provision of ₹902 crores has been made in the budget for the upliftment of unauthorised colonies in the fiscal year 2024-25.

❖ There are now more than 2.60 lakh CCTV cameras installed in Delhi.

❖ The Government has constructed 30 new corridors, flyovers, bridges, and underpasses during last 9 years to make traffic smoother in the city. Some of these include Bhalswa, Burari, Mukundpur, and Jagatpur flyovers on Ring Road, an elevated corridor between Madhuban Chowk and Mukarba Chowk, Signature Bridge in North-East Delhi, Shastri Park-Seelampur Flyover, Ashram Chowk Underpass and Flyover in South Delhi, Sarai Kale Khan Flyover, RTR Flyover on Outer Ring Road, Benito Juarez Underpass, and more.

❖ Work of several new flyovers and elevated corridors will be completed and dedicated to the people of Delhi in 2024-25- Barapullah Phase-III; Double Decker Metro Flyover on Brijpuri Junction via Karawal Nagar, Gonda; Flyover on Nand Nagari to Gagan Cinema Junction; Double Decker metro Flyover on Rani Jhansi Road Junction to Azadpur Corridor; Flyover from Anand Vihar ROB to Apsara Border ROB and Underpass on Outer Ring Road Mukarba Chowk.

❖ ₹1,768 crore is proposed in the Budget 2024-25 for road and flyover projects in Delhi.

❖ To develop better road infrastructure in the villages, in 2024-25, the Government will lay about 1000 kilometers of roads in more than 360 villages of Delhi. This will give a great boost to the village economy. For the development of the villages of Delhi, a budget of ₹900 crore is proposed in the financial year 2024-25.

❖ Around 9.03 lakh beneficiaries are receiving pensions ranging from ₹2,000 to ₹2,500 every month. This includes 4 lakh senior citizens, 3.75 lakh women in distress and 1.23 lakh persons with special needs. Budget of ₹2,714 crore is proposed for these beneficiaries in the budget of 2024-25.

❖ In 2014, nearly 2 lakh children were affected by severe and moderate malnutrition in Delhi, and today, this number has reduced significantly by upto 91.5%, with just 16,814 malnourished children.

❖ A new scheme “Mukyamantri Mahila Samman Yojna” is proposed for the welfare and empowerment of women from 2024-25. Under this scheme, every woman above the age of 18 years will be eligible to receive an amount of ₹1000 per month except those who are currently a part of any Government pension scheme, are Government employees are an income tax payer. For the financial year 2024-25, ₹2000 crore is proposed for this scheme.

❖ A budget outlay of ₹6,216 crore is proposed for various schemes under the Social Welfare Department, Women and Child Development Department and SC/ST/OBC Welfare Department.

❖ The Delhi Government will provide a total financial assistance of ₹8,423 crore to the local body in the budget year 2024-25. Of this, ₹3,153 crore will be for Education, Healthcare and Sanitation. ₹2,955 crore will be given in the form of Basic Tax Assignment (BTA) and ₹2,315 crore will be given as Stamp and Registration charges and one-time parking fee.