Delhi Assembly's Budget Session to be held from 8 to 16 March

New Delhi: The Delhi Assembly’s Budget Session will begin from 8 March, with the budget likely to be presented on 9 March, officials said on Tuesday. The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday. The Budget session for 2021-22 will begin on 8 March and end on 16 March, tweeted the Chief Minister’s Office. “The Budget session will begin with the tabling of the Economic Survey Report and the outcome budget of the government on 8 March. The Budget will be presented in Delhi Assembly House on 9 March,” said a senior Delhi government official. The Budget for 2021-22 is expected to focus on key areas of health, education and infrastructure, including water supply, and new taxes are unlikely, sources said. The government had presented Rs 65,000 crore Budget for 2020-2021 that was around 10 percent more than that in 2019-20. The outcome Budget listing performance and achievements of various departments and agencies of the government, in the previous financial year, will be presented on the first day of the session along with Economic Survey of Delhi, officials said. The session will begin with the address of the Lt Governor. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, safety norms like social distancing and use of face masks and social distancing will be strictly followed during the session, they said. The government is likely to come out with measures to boost revenue collection that has been hit hard and has dropped by 42 percent due to the pandemic and the year-long lockdown, the officials said. The Budget is also likely to be focused on pollution and transport that have been taken up by the government on priority basis in the recent times, they said. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who also holds the charge of the Finance Department, will present the Budget in the Assembly. It will be the seventh budget to be presented by him in the Assembly.