Rs 28,054 crore spent on CWG: Reddy

Seeking cooperation from all quarters for making the Commonwealth Games a success, Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy today said a total of Rs 28,054 crore have been spent on the games out of which Rs 16,560 crore was given to the Delhi Government for upgrading the capital infrastructure and building of various stadia.

Making an intervention during a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Commonwealth Games, Reddy said of the total of money given to the Delhi Government, only Rs 670 crore has been spent directly on the games -- on building stadia.

"The rest of the money has been spent on infrastructure development of the capital, which is not directly linked to the games," he said.

Giving a break-up of the money spent, the minister said, the Delhi Government has spent on various projects which includes Rs 650 crore for street scaping, Rs 900 crore for development bus depots, Rs 3,000 crore for extension of Metro, Rs 18,000 crore for augmenting DTC bus services and Rs 3,700 crore on flyovers and bridges.

Of the Rs 11,494 crore spent by the centre, Rs 2.934 crore was spent on sports infrastructure and Rs 678 crore on training of teams, while Rs 182 crore has been given to MTNL, Rs 827.85 crore to the Ministry of Urban Development, Rs 487.57 to Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Rs 747 crore to Health Ministry.

Reddy said the government has also given Rs 2,394 crore as loan to the organising committee, which is to be returned by them after the games.

Defending the huge amount of money spent, he said most of the money has been spent of infrastructure development which will remain as the country's legacy long after the games are over.

"If you furnish and paint your house before your daughter's wedding, then the money spent on that cannot be said to be part of the dowry," he said.

Appealing to all parties to come together and make the games a success, he said, "All of us, cutting across party lines, should rise to make the games successful and spectacular."