10 Key Highlights Of Delhi Economic Survey

The state of Delhi may be improving on certain accounts, but, the national capital is still far from providing its citizens the lifestyle a megacity of this size and scale should ideally do, shows the Economic Survey 2017-18. 

According to the Survey, at Rs 6.86 lakh crore, the gross state domestic product (GSDP) growth has seen an 11.22 per cent increase over the 2016-17 fiscal. At Rs 29,000, Delhi's per capita income is also three times that of the national average. However, surging debts and lower Goods-and-Services-Tax (GST) collection also point out the pain points.

Here are the other key highlights of the Survey:

• Delhi Metro: Once the Phase-III project of the Delhi Metro network is completed, it will cover 350 kilometre (km) from the existing over 252 km. It will lead to a rise in ridership from the present 28 lakh per day to nearly 40 lakh per day. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC’s) allocation during 2016-17 towards Phase-III was Rs 1,333.77 crore.

• Tax and Revenue collection: Delhi has sustained its consistent revenue surplus, which was Rs 5,044 crore in 2016-17 (provisional) as compared to Rs 8,656 crore in 2015-16. The overall revenue collection is expected to be high despite the lower GST collection in the current financial year.

• Debts:  The government's outstanding debt have increased by over Rs 8,000 crore in the past 10 years.

• Expenditure: The survey mentioned an increase in education-related expenditure as total investment more than doubled from Rs 5,491 crore in 2012-13 to Rs 11,300 crore in 2017-18. The sector received a huge allocation of 23.54 per cent of the total budget in 2017-18.

• Income and employment: In the last decade, the number of unemployed persons registered in employment exchanges in the city has risen from 5.56 lakh in 2006 to 12.97 lakh in 2016. The contribution of agriculture and manufacturing sectors continued to decline in Delhi's gross state value added (GSVA), with services sector providing over 80 per cent income of city. 

• Civic amenities: Despite the government’s commitment to provide piped water supply for authorised and unauthorised colonies and JJ clusters, over 16 per cent households are yet to receive the facility. 

• Social infrastructure: Over the past five years, the number of hospital beds in Delhi increased by 24.9 per cent at 53,329 in 2016-17 from 42,695 in 2012-13. 

With inputs from Housing News