In deficit,govt seeks funds from DDA now

He said the DDA being a land-owning agency “must contribute to the city by paying the government a fee for the development of infrastructure”.

According to officials,the decision to approach the Centre was taken on Wednesday after Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Finance Minister Walia took stock of stamp duty,Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise duty collections by the government so far.

As per figures provided by the Finance department,stamp duty collections have dipped by about Rs 750 crore since last year. The government is also facing a shortfall in VAT collection by about Rs 500 crore,Walia said. “We have a budget of about Rs 23,043 crore for the present fiscal and despite the shortfall last year,we could sail through because we had Rs 1,200 crore reserved under the Small Savings Fund.

“But our funds are depleting and we may not have enough for the next financial year,in the thick of the Commonwealth Games. How are we going to carry out transport,education and even social welfare projects next year?” he asked.

Expecting a 25 per cent share from the DDA,both Walia and Dikshit will forward the proposal to the Delhi Cabinet,once the Union Cabinet is in place.

“Land is the most important and valued source of revenue,” the finance minister said. “Once DDA constructs a building or sells land,it is the municipal authorities and the government that provide services to people living there. So the DDA,as any other land-owning agency,must contribute to the government (kitty).”

While the previous Manmohan Singh government earmarked Rs 1,000 crore in its interim budget for the Delhi government to complete projects for next year’s Commonwealth Games,Delhi will also ask the Centre to increase the fund in the final budget.