The economic survey has pegged the per capita income of Delhi at Rs 3,65,529

NEW DELHI: Belying apprehensions that the Aam Aadmi Party government's subsidies on water and electricity will make a dent in the revenue surplus of Delhi, revenue collection of the government continues to be high and surplus robust.

According to Economic Survey of Delhi 2018-19, tabled in the Assembly on Saturday, tax collection in 2017-18 registered a growth of 14.7% compared with 3.1% in 2016-17. The government is expecting a tax collection of Rs 42,000 crore in 2018-19 which will mean a growth of 17.6% over the previous year. This will become clear when the government presents its budget on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the economy of the national capital has continued to grow at constantly higher rates for the past four years. During 2018-19, it is estimated to have grown at 8.6%, a growth of 12.9% at current prices over the preceding year, says the survey. It's the third consecutive year for the state economy to have witnessed a constant growth - from 7.5% in 2016-17 to 8.5% in 2017-18.

The economic survey has pegged the per capita income of Delhi at Rs 3,65,529 against the national average of Rs 1,25,397. It means that on an average, a Delhiite continues to earn almost three times more than the average Indian. The city continues to attract more people in search of a better life and is cheaper than Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Delhi's economy has been largely fuelled by the tertiary sector (services), which contributed 83.6% to the GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product ), secondary sector (manufacturing) 14.1% and primary sector (agriculture) 2.3% in 2018-19. The largest contributor to tax revenue growth is state goods and services tax or GST which generated 38.1% of the total tax revenue followed by valued added tax which generated 31.2%, mostly from liquor and fuel consumption.

The growth in tax collection is a big boost for the government, especially because in 2016-17, it had crashed to 3.1%, which the government largely blamed on demonetisation. "The advance estimate of GSDP at current prices during 2018-19 is...Rs 7,79,652 crore, at a growth rate of 12.9% over 2017-18. In real terms (including factors like inflation), the growth is estimated to be 8.6% during 2018-19," says the survey.

Its overflowing coffers have enabled the government to allocate more funds to various infrastructure projects for decongesting the city, take up initiatives for maintaining the environment, provide better healthcare to people, give a better life to the socially and economically disadvantaged persons and improve the education sector. It also allowed the government to implement recommendations of the 5th Delhi Finance Commission which means it will devolve more funds to the local bodies.

Deputy CM and finance minister Manish Sisodia attributed the record jump in tax collection to honesty of the government, and not the Goods and Services Tax (GST). "The government has closed all leakages in tax collection which resulted in a huge jump," said Sisodia. He pointed out that the budget had increased under AAP government from Rs 41,129 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 53,000 crore in 2018-19. "Unlike other governments, the AAP government does not take cuts from businessmen, and hence they are able to pay their taxes honestly," said a source in the government.

The education sector continues to be the first priority with maximum allocation in the budget. The government had set aside 27.4% of the last budget for education, 16.6% for social welfare and 14.8% for health. The AAP government has significantly increased spending in social service sector too.

The government had also prepared its first comprehensive outcome budget, based on output and outcome indicators, in 2017-18, moving away from traditional budgeting to an outcome-based approach.



In Video: Despite subsidies, Delhi government's revenue collection stays robust