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Jaitley to present Delhi budget today

by IBNS 18 Jul 2014, 11:27 am

New Delhi, July 18 (IBNS): Union finance minister Arun Jaitley will present the much-awaited Delhi budget in parliament on Friday, amid expectation of power subsidy to consumers.

Currently, Delhi assembly has been kept under suspended animation and the President Rule is in force.

BJP leaders of the Delhi unit on Thursday met the finance minister urging him to grant Rs.800 crore as power subsidy as people are already overburdened with heavy electricity costs.

Earlier, Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government in Delhi had provided subsidy of Rs.1 per unit for consumption between 0-200 units and 200-400 units for several years.

After coming to power, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party (AAP) government had also provided 50 percent subsidy on electricity consumption of up to 400 units. But the subsidy scheme lapsed on March 31.

Earlier in the union budget, Jaitley had allocated Rs.700 crore to help overcome the crisis of power transmission and water distribution system in the national capital. He had proposed Rs.500 crore for the water sector reforms while the rest Rs.200 crore was kept aside for power sector.

The residents of Delhi, who often reel under power cuts, will now have to shell out more for their power connection with the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission announcing a hike by 8.32 per cent for all three distribution companies a day ago.