Delhi’s transport sector faces Rs 1,867 crore cut in 2024-25 budget

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.
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.
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.