India News | Delhi Govt's Outlay for Transport Witnesses Rs 1,867 Crore Drop in 2024-25

New Delhi, Mar 4 (PTI) Delhi government's outlay for the transport sector for 2024-25 witnessed a drop of Rs 1,867 crore from the corresponding figure for 2023-24, which stood at Rs 9,337 crore, according to official data.

Finance Minister Atishi, while presenting the budget in the Delhi Assembly on Monday, said the allocation to the sector for 2024-25 fiscal was Rs 7,470 crore, including Rs 5,702 crore for transport and Rs 1,768 crore for road and flyover projects in the national capital.

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Presenting his first budget, minister Kailash Gahlot had proposed an allocation of over Rs 9,337 crore for transport, roads and bridges for 2023-24 fiscal, a decrease of Rs 9,539 crore from 2022-23 financial year.

The government did not announce any fresh schemes for the transport sector.

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Atishi said from 2019 until now, in just five years, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has provided women in Delhi with the freedom to travel for free on buses 153 crore times.

"In the year 2014-15, when a girl from a common family wanted to go to college for her studies, her parents would refuse because the expenses for travelling were too high. Many women could not work just because the majority of their salary was spent on travelling.

"For the first time in the history of the country, a bus journey for women was made completely free so that a woman can travel anywhere in Delhi, confidently with her 'pink ticket' provided by her brother Arvind Kejriwal, without worrying about money," Atishi said in her budget speech.

Sharing figures, Atishi said the number of ‘pink tickets' has consistently increased in the past few years.

It was 17.7 crore in 2020-21 and has now reached 40.2 crore in 2022-23. Approximately 11 lakh women travel for free on the buses every day, she said.

She also highlighted the significant increase in the number of buses.

"With a fleet of 1,650 electric buses, Delhi is now ranked third among the world's cities. Today, Delhi has a remarkable fleet of 7,582 buses, the highest in the history of Delhi. Additionally, the Kejriwal Government will procure 2,080 nine-metre e-buses, which will be used as mohalla buses for the last-mile connectivity," she said.

The mohalla bus scheme was announced last year, with 100 buses expected to ply on Delhi's roads in the 2023-24 fiscal.

The mohalla bus service, announced in the 2023-24 Delhi budget, aims to deploy shorter nine-metre electric buses to boost last-mile connectivity in crowded areas and those with narrow roads.

By 2025, Delhi will have more than 10,000 buses, out of which 80 per cent will be electric buses.

Delhi has a bus fleet of 7,582 buses currently, which is being used by more than 41 lakh passengers on a daily basis, she said.

"To expand this fleet further, a concession agreement for the engagement of 1,900 new e-buses has been signed. I propose a budget of Rs 510 crore for electric buses during 2024-25. I also propose Rs 340 crore in 2024-25 to continue the scheme of free bus travel for women in DTC and cluster buses through ‘pink tickets'," she said.

She said by March 2015, a total of 193 kilometers of metro rail network and 143 metro stations were established in Delhi.

"However, in the past nine years, the Delhi Metro network has doubled in length, reaching 393 kilometers, and the number of stations has increased to 288. In 2014, around 24 lakh passengers used to travel daily in the Delhi Metro, and today, more than 60 lakh passengers are using the metro everyday," she said in her budget speech.

The Delhi Metro has now reached every corner of Delhi, whether it be Tikri Border, Samaypur Badli, Tikri Kalan, Badarpur Border or Shiv Vihar, she said.

"The work on Phase-4 of Delhi Metro will be started soon. An MoU will be signed for the construction of three corridors namely Janakpuri West to Ramakrishna Ashram Corridor, Delhi Aerocity to Tughlakabad Station Corridor, Majlis Park to Maujpur Corridor," she said.

There will be 45 stations on these three metro corridors totalling 65.20 kilometers.

"In this financial year, I propose an outlay of Rs 500 crore for Delhi Metro. In order to further improve the public transportation system of Delhi, I am proposing a budget outlay of Rs 5,702 crore for the financial year 2024-25," she said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)