Delhi Finance Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi has urged the Centre to provide Rs 10,000 crore for infrastructure development in the national capital, citing the city government’s significant income tax contribution of Rs 2 lakh crore over the past year.

During a press conference in Delhi, the minister announced that the city had provided Rs 25,000 crore as central GST to the pool of taxes. Atishi, also sought release of more funds to Delhi, suggesting they could be used for infrastructure development in road, transport, and power sectors, as well as to beautify the city.

Also Read:‘In touch with Microsoft’: IT Minister Vaishnaw as global outage hits airlines, bank services

Asserting that residents of Delhi are the highest income taxpayers, the minister stated, “Delhi should get Rs 10,000 crore from the Rs 2.07 lakh crores that people of the city pay as income tax. This amount of Rs 10,000 crore is just 0.25 per cent of the Central government’s budget and only 5 per cent of the income tax of Delhiites.”

The Monsoon Session of Parliament is set to begin on July 22 with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman scheduled to present the Union Budget on July 23.

Also Read:‘Absolutely misconceived’: Supreme Court junks Bilkis Bano case convicts’ bail pleas

Slamming the disparity in financial treatment between Delhi and other major cities, Atishi pointed out that Mumbai contributes Rs 5 lakh crore in taxes to the Centre, receiving Rs 54,000 crore in return for Maharashtra. Similarly, Bengaluru, contributing Rs 2 lakh crore, receives Rs 33,000 crore from the central pool.

Contrastingly, Delhi has received only Rs 325 crore annually since 2001, which was halted last year, leaving the city with no central funding. Despite Delhi residents paying Rs 35,000 crore in taxes last year, the Centre did not allocate any funds back to the city for essential services like free electricity, healthcare, or infrastructure.

She termed this as unfair, claiming other global cities like New York, Tokyo, or London don’t face such neglect from their central governments. In response, Delhi BJP secretary Harish Khurana disputed her claims, asserting that the Centre had provided increasing sums to Delhi, from Rs 4,258 crore in 2015 to Rs 11,945 crore in 2022.