Government withdraws order capping April spending at 5%

Days after imposing five per cent cap on budgetary spending for the month of April, the Delhi Government withdrew the order of the Finance Department late on Thursday.

Notably, The Tribune had exclusively reported on April 1 about an order of the Finance Department of the Delhi Government asking the department heads to ensure that the expenditure for the month of April should not exceed more than five per cent of the total Budget allocated to its departments in the Budget estimates for 2025-26 financial year.

Following the news report, AAP leader Atishi held a press conference and flagged the issue of five per cent capping. The said instructions for curtailing expenditure were issued to ensure “better cash management”.

However, the government had exempted the salaries, allowances (excluding arrears), security and sanitation, electricity and water supply, telephone, postage charges, petrol, oil, lubricants (POL) and maintenance of staff car from the aforementioned five per cent capping, which has now been withdrawn.

Notably, the newly formed BJP government in Delhi had on March 25 presented its maiden and a historic Rs 1 lakh crore Budget for the city with their prime focus on health, education and transport sectors. These three sectors got the maximum share in the Budget with a collective amount of Rs 45,136 crore.