New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday heaped praises on the State Budget 2023. He said that Budget 2023 was unveiled with a vision to transform Delhi into a 'Clean, Beautiful & Modern Delhi'. The budget will leave no stone unturned in making this vision a reality, he remarked.

The Chief Minister praised Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot for his efforts to uphold the legacy of former Deputy Chief Minister Shri Manish Sisodia. "Delhi is missing Manish Sisodia today but Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot has done a great job to hold his legacy," said Kejriwal.

The Delhi Budget has increased from Rs 30,940 crores in 2014 to Rs 78,800 crore in 2023. Despite giving many "freebies", the budget remains profitable, making it a unique case as other states do not give anything for free and are at a loss, he said.

The AAP government has prioritised infra projects such as the beautification of roads, building 26 flyovers, 3 double-decker flyovers, electrification of bus depots, 1400 bus queues, cleaning of Yamuna, and elimination of the garbage mountain, added the Chief Minister.

The AAP government has increased the water supply from 870-880 MGD to 995 MGD and aims to increase it to 1250 MGD by 2025. Furthermore, in 2015, 985 unauthorized colonies had water pipelines. The AAP government has laid 5138 km of pipe and increased it to 1671 colonies. The government will increase the number of free medical tests from 250 to 400 in mohalla clinics, which will also be opened at metro stations, he said.

Kejriwal said that there was something for everyone in the Budget that was presented today, and added that all the surveys highlight that inflation is at the lowest level across the country in Delhi, and this is because the Delhi Government provides several facilities to the citizens for free, such as electricity, water, education, healthcare and so on.

He added that in this Budget the state government has decided to continue the facilities provided to the residents of Delhi, so that it will continue to provide them relief from the soaring inflation across the country. He also said that the state government’s fight against corruption will continue and all the faceless services provided by the state government will continue and will further be enhanced in other departments of the Delhi Government.

The Delhi CM said that in the last couple of years under the AAP government there has been a tremendous improvement particularly in the department of transport. In 2015, the expansion of metro services was 193 kilometres long and there were 140 metro stations. This has now extended to 390 kilometres, which is more than double and there are 286 metro stations.

Also in 2015, there were 5600 buses in Delhi and this has now increased to 8379. “Last year in the Budget we had announced that we would turn Delhi into a ‘City of National Flags’, and now when you travel in Delhi you are bound to see some of them as there are 550 National Flags in different parts of the city. So, this shows that the AAP Government keeps the promises that it makes to the people,” he said. 

Highlighting that sanitation will be one of the priorities of the state government, the CM said that there are nine points on which the state government will work to make Delhi a clean and hygienic city. The first is that all the roads that are above 60 feet wide will be cleaned by the PWD. The Delhi CM also added that PWD has a total road length of 1400 km under it. He said that the department will procure 70 mechanical sweepers and these roads will be cleaned on a regular basis. He also said that daily the footpath and the central divider will be cleaned by the department and for this purpose the anti-smog machines will be procured.

Keeping the focus on improving infrastructure in the city, Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that the AAP Government has already built 28 flyovers in the city and is working on another 26 flyovers in different parts of Delhi. He added that some of these projects are in their advanced stages. He also added that three unique double-deckers flyovers will be built in Delhi. 

He also said that 1600 new electric buses will be procured by the state government this year, and added that the target was to have 10,480 buses in Delhi by 2025, which would be sufficient to cater to the needs of its residents. By 2025, 80 percent of them will be electric, and at that point Delhi will be one of the few cities in the world where so many electric buses will be running at the same time.

Cleaning of the Yamuna river has always been a focus point for the Delhi Government and the CM said that a six-point action plan has been formed for this purpose. As part of it, new STPs and decentralised STPs will also be constructed, the current STPs will also be upgraded and with this the capacity of Delhi to treat sewage will be increased to 890 MGD. In 2015, this capacity was only 370 MGD, he said.  

In a landmark decision, the Delhi Government has decided to provide free sewer connections to the households of Delhi that still lack a connection. Explaining the rationale behind this move, Shri Arvind Kejriwal explained that in several parts of Delhi, including the Trans-Yamuna region, the sewer lines have been placed in all colonies, but since the sewer connection is expensive, several households have still not got a connection and they release their waste into the drains that go into the river.