New Delhi, Mar 1 (PTI) Delhi’s per capita income increased by 22 per cent in two years to Rs 4.61 lakh in 2023-24, Finance Minister Atishi said on Friday while projecting a 9.17 per cent economic growth for the current financial year.
Tabling the Economic Survey for 2023-24 in the Assembly, the Delhi finance minister said the city’s economy has grown at a record pace despite hurdles created by the Centre, LG and officers in the work of the Kejriwal government.
Atishi said that the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Delhi at current prices is likely to reach Rs 11,07,746 crore in 2023-24 with a growth of 9.17 per cent.
“The GSDP of Delhi in 2022-23 was Rs 10,14,000 crore. In post-COVID times, our real GSDP grew at 8.76 per cent in 2021-22 and 7.85 per cent in 2022-23, faster than the rest of the country,” she said.
Delhi’s contribution to the national GDP is nearly 4 per cent despite its population being just 1.5 per cent of the total population of the country, she said.
Atishi said that the Delhi government’s budget for 2024-25 will be tabled in the Assembly session on March 4. The House extended the ongoing budget session, which began on February 15, till March 8.
This survey report showed the per capita income of Delhi increased from Rs 3,76,217 in 2021-22 to Rs 4,61,910 in 2023-24, up by 22 per cent in two years.
According to official figures of 2021-22, Delhi was placed third in the list of per capita income behind Sikkim and Goa.
Atishi asserted that Delhi is the only revenue surplus state in the country as its revenue has registered significant growth despite an increased size of its budget over the years.
In 2021-22, Delhi recorded a revenue surplus of Rs 3,270 crores; which increased to 14,457 crores in 2022-23. Delhi’s tax collection has registered a growth of 18 per cent during 2022-23, she said.
Atishi claimed that the Centre on the other hand has accumulated debt of over Rs 155 lakh crore in the last decade which is 92 per cent of the GDP.
Inflation in Delhi was 2.81 per cent in January-December 2023 while the national inflation was 5.65 per cent in the period. The unemployment rate of Delhi has also come down from 6.3 per cent in 2020-21 (post-Covid) to 1.9 per cent in 2022-23, she said citing the Economic Survey figures.
The country’s inflation is the second highest in the world. Inflation has increased by 70 per cent in the last decade, the minister said claiming Delhi has the lowest inflation in the country.
In the last two years, the unemployment rate has declined to 1.9 per cent as the Kejriwal government has given a fillip to Delhi’s economy even as free-of-cost services like electricity, water, health, education, bus rides for women, pilgrimage of senior citizens have been provided, she stated. PTI SLB/VIT MR
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