Delhi Budget 2011 to pinch your pocket more

Your diabetic husband has been stubbornly refusing to lay off sweets? Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday gave him more reason to do so. The Delhi chief minister on Tuesday hiked the value added tax (VAT) on, among other things, sweetmeats and namkeen, as she presented the annual state budget for the 2011- 12 fiscal. The VAT hike will translate to increased prices.

Delhiites will also have to pay an additional registration charge of 25 per cent for every diesel- run vehicle purchased in the national capital from April 1 onwards. The Delhi government also hiked the VAT on unprocessed tobacco by 12.5 per cent — paving the way for an increase in the rates of cigarettes, bidis and other tobacco products. Currently, a VAT of 30 per cent is levied on tobacco products.

“ More than the revenue, this sends a clear message about what’s bad for our health and environment,” Dikshit said as she presented her first budget as the state finance minister on Tuesday. Dikshit is the first Delhi CM to present the budget.

She even warned the liquor consumers in the Capital of an impending hike. “ We are yet to present our excise policy for the year,” she said, responding to why an additional tax wasn’t being levied on liquor. Delhiites will also have to pay an additional 5 per cent VAT on suitings and furnishings. But the Delhi CM exempted tax on bicycles costing up to Rs. 3,500.

She hoped that this exemption would promote the “ healthy and non- polluting mode of transport for the aam aadmi ”. Terming the Rs. 27,067- crore budget a “ balanced one”, the CM said it had a plan outlay of Rs. 13,600 crore while the non- plan expenditure amounted to Rs. 13,307 crore.

The Capital’s “ troubled” transport sector came out as a clear winner in the CM’s budget, having been allotted almost 25 per cent of the total planned allocation — or Rs. 3,348 crore. Other sectors which received substantial allocation in Dikshit’s self- confessed “ forward looking” budget were medical and public health (12.67 per cent allocation), water supply and sanitation (12.13 per cent), energy (11.59 per cent) and urban development (10.78 per cent).

Critics, however, gave harsh reviews to the CM’s first budget, saying it lacked focus and was contradictory as it had been made with an eye on the impending MCD elections next year.

Opposition leaders explained how Dikshit’s proposal to exempt kerosene stoves, lanterns and Petromax from VAT contradicted the announcement she made a few days ago to “ completely phase out kerosene oil and stoves from the city”. Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta said: “ The CM did not say anything about ending corruption.

There is no scheme for Delhi’s unemployed youth in the budget. There is nothing in the budget for the security and development of women, children and the youth.” The CM confessed how transport continues to be a “ big trouble” in the Capital. To this effect, she announced the creation of 14 new integrated BRT corridors, measuring around 229 km.

She also announced the construction of the long- pending signature bridge, allocating Rs. 1,131 crore for it. At the end of the session, though, the CM was upbeat. When asked how she would rate the budget as an ordinary housewife, Dikshit quipped that she didn’t understand a word of it. “ I just read it out,” she said.