Delhi demands INR 5,000 crore from Central government

New Delhi, May 31 (IANS): Owing to revenue losses due to the coronavirus lockdown, the Delhi government on Sunday demanded INR 5,000 crore from the Central government.

Speaking to the media, Delhi Finance Minister Manish Sisodia said the minimum monthly expenditure of the government is INR 3,500 crore, including salaries and other official expenses.

“In the last two months, the tax collection was INR 500 crore for each month. INR 1,735 crore was collected from other sources. However, for two months, we need INR 7,000 crore. I have urged the Centre to give INR 5,000 crore to the national capital. I have written a letter to Union Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) demanding the money,” Sisodia said.

He said the Centre gave funds to other states but Delhi did not get any help from it even in the name of disaster management.

“We need to pay salaries to our teachers, doctors and other staff who are working to fight against coronavirus,” Sisodia added.

He said due to the lockdown, the tax collection of the Delhi government has gone down by about 85 per cent.

On May 3, reporting a revenue loss of about INR 3,200 crore in April compared to the previous year, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the lockdown is making it difficult for the government to pay salaries to its employees.