Capital’s GDP up 50% since 2016-17: L-G  

Per capita income in 2021-22 three times higher than that of country, says Baijal on Day 1 of budget session

Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal, addressing the Delhi Assembly on the first day of the budget session on Wednesday, urged the legislators to make every effort to raise the standard of living of the Capital’s citizens.

Mr. Baijal said Delhi’s gross domestic product (GDP) went up by 50% since 2016-17, indicating that the city’s economy was in a strong position.

“In 2021-22, Delhi’s Gross State Domestic Product on current prices was ₹9,23,967 crore. In the last five years, it grew by 50% compared to ₹6,16,085 crore in 2016-17,” Mr. Baijal said. While mentioning the government’s achievements in various sectors, he added that Delhi’s per capita income in 2021-22 was ₹4,01,922, which was three times higher than that of the country.

Delhi, the L-G said, had the cheapest electricity rates in the country and 91.45% households had availed of the benefits of the government’s power subsidy in 2020-21.

Leader of the Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri termed the L-G’s address a “bundle of lies” read out of “compulsion” based on “white lies” of the AAP government’s supposed achievements.

Mr. Baijal’s address was initially disrupted by BJP legislators demanding that the AAP government take immediate steps to make ‘ The Kashmir Files’ tax-free for theatre audiences in the city. Terming it “indecent behaviour”, Speaker Ram Niwas Goel asked the BJP MLAs to stop sloganeering.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also responded by asking the BJP MLAs to approach the Centre for waiver of Central GST on the movie, after which Mr. Baijal resumed his address.