At Rs 2.41 lakh, Delhi's per capita income highest in India

Delhi sees 13.5% rise in per capita income; its GDP grows 8.2% in 2014-15 against the national average of 7.3%

The Delhi Economic Survey tabled by the Arvind Kejriwal govt in the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday showed Delhi's tax revenue rise was meagre compared to the growth of 10.60% in 2013-14

A moderate 2.64 per cent rise in tax revenues and 3.61 per cent decline in non-tax receipts notwithstanding, Delhi managed to have a revenue surplus and narrowed down its fiscal deficit in 2014-15. This was thanks to a huge jump of 56 per cent in the Centre's grant-in-aid.

Delhi was the most prosperous among Indian states in per capita income, which stood at Rs 2.41 lakh in FY15 - a 13.5 per cent growth from Rs 2.12 lakh in the previous financial year. This was almost three times higher than the per capita income of Rs 87,748 crore at the national level.
 

The Delhi Economic Survey tabled by the Arvind Kejriwal government in the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday showed Delhi's own tax revenue rise was meagre compared to the growth of 10.60 per cent in 2013-14. In absolute terms, tax collections rose to Rs 26,602.34 crore in 2014-15 from Rs 25,918.69 crore in the previous year.

It should be noted that figures given in Economic Survey are Budget Estimates and are a bit different from ones given in vote-on-account.

Non-tax revenue, on the other hand, fell to Rs 635.33 crore in 2014-15 against Rs 659.14 crore in the previous year. In 2013-14, this increased by 5.13 per cent from Rs 626.93 crore in 2012-13.

Even then, Delhi has maintained its consistent revenue surplus which was Rs 6,079.53 crore or 1.35 per cent of its state GDP in 2014-15 compared to Rs 5,615.37 in the previous year, which was 1.43 per cent of gross state domestic product (GSDP) in 2013-14.

Meanwhile, Delhi's GDP grew 8.2 per cent in 2014-15 against the national average of 7.3 per cent.

The government managed revenue surplus because revenue expenditure, which includes subsidies on power and water, rose by only 5.7 per cent at Rs 23,504.96 crore in 2014-15, up from 22,366.53 crore in the previous year. The Aam Aadmi Party government making good its poll promise of cheap power and water released Rs 32 crore in 2014-15 on account of power subsidy and Rs 20.83 crore to Delhi Jal Board for 20 kilo litres free water scheme to Delhiites.

Also, the Centre's grant-in aid jumped to Rs 2,346.82 crore in 2014-15 from Rs 1,502.52 crore. The survey attributed this to payment of arrears of previous years on water development programmes, power sector support etc. Similarly, fiscal deficit was reined in at Rs 2,21.25 crore in 2014-15, which is 0.049 per cent of GSDP. In 2013-14, the deficit was at 1.01 per cent of GSDP.

As for the Delhi government refusing to bail out the three financially-strapped civic bodies, the survey notes that while a loan of Rs 1,000 crore was extended in 2012-13 and Rs 250 crore was extended in 2013-14 "due to limited availability of resources", in FY15 the government did not support loan facilities to the civic bodies.

Of the three, only South Delhi Municipal Corporation had Rs 850.26 crore as a closing balance in 2014-15. In contrast, East Delhi Municipal Corporation had only Rs 82.62 crore and the North Delhi Municipal Corporation Rs 18.83 crore, clearly exhibiting the cash-strapped position of these bodies that led to the civic mess in the national capital a few weeks ago. On the socio-economic front, the sex ratio improved from 821 in 2001 to 868 in 2011. The density of population increased from 9,340 persons per square km in 2001 to 11,297 persons per sq km in 2011. The urban population of the national capital rose from 93.18 per cent in 2001 to 97.5 per cent in 2011.

Urbanisation has made rapid strides in the capital with 97.5 per cent of the population living in urban area and the number of villages declining from 165 in 2001 to 112 in 2011.

Delhi's literacy rate also increased from 81.67 per cent in 2001 to 86.34 per cent in 2011, the survey noted.

The ratio of people below poverty line saw a decline to 9.91 per cent of total population in 2011-12 from 14.2 per cent in 2009-10 and 13 per cent in 2004-05. At the national-level, the poverty rate was 21.92 per cent in 2011-12.

Among the new proposals in the offing, to encourage solar power, New Delhi Municipal Council area will be developed as a 'Solar City' by installing solar photo voltaic (SPV) panels on rooftops of government buildings, metro stations, bus stops, among other places. A new SPV power plant of 2.14 Mw at the Indira Gandhi International Airport has been successfully installed and commissioned.