UT gets Rs 4,511 crore, hike lowest in 2 years

CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh Administration has received Rs 4,511.91 crore from the Centre in the Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in Parliament today. While the Administration has got Rs 199 crore more than the Budget of the current fiscal, the increase of 4.60 per cent is the lowest in the past two fiscals.

Economic experts watch the Budget telecast at the CII in Chandigarh on Thursday. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 1

The Chandigarh Administration has received Rs 4,511.91 crore from the Centre in the Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in Parliament today.

While the Administration has got Rs 199 crore more than the Budget of the current fiscal, the increase of 4.60 per cent is the lowest in the past two fiscals. The UT had got a 9.51 per cent increase in the Budget last fiscal.

This year, the Administration has received Rs 505 crore under the capital head and Rs 4,006 crore under the revenue head. While the Administration had demanded Rs 5,908 crore from the Centre, it got only Rs 4,511 crore.

The Administration had received Rs 4,312 crore for the financial year 2017-18. While an amount of Rs 475 crore was given under the capital head, Rs 3,837crore was allotted under the revenue head. The funds under the capital head are for development works, while those under the revenue head largely cater to the expenditure on salaries and other recurring expenses. The Finance Ministry has given the maximum amount of Rs 943 crore for the energy sector. While the Administration has got an increase of Rs 81 crore in the health sector, it has faced a cut in the housing and urban development, police and food and civil supplies sectors.

Budget leaves civic body disappointed

The Budget has come as a disappointment for the Municipal Corporation. While the Administration had sought Rs 1,100 crore for the civic body, the Centre has released Rs 269 crore only. The MC had received the same amount for the current financial year also. The MC had demanded an extra amount of Rs 73 crore for the augmentation of the water supply. It had also demanded money for the construction of new community centres, renovation of public toilets and other projects. The MC has, however, got Rs 50 crore extra for smart city projects for the next fiscal.

New projects for next fiscal