Budget offers a lot to Delhi voters to cheer about

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Saturday complied with the Election Commission of India’s directive not to announce any Delhi-specific schemes or sops in the Union Budget 2025-26 yet managed to give voters in the election-bound city a few reasons to cheer.

Apart from the tax exemption for the middle class, which will benefit Delhiites like all Indian citizens, many Central schemes may indirectly benefit city voters like slum dwellers and residents of unauthorised colonies that need an infrastructure boost.

In her eighth successive Budget speech on Saturday, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman announced several schemes for street vendors, gig workers, middle-class people who are paying EMIs for flats in stressed housing projects and the urban poor whose settlements need better infrastructure and governance.

PM SVANidhi scheme, which has benefitted more than 68 lakh street vendors by giving them respite from high-interest informal sector loans, will continue to benefit Delhi vendors, most of whom are from Purvanchal and live in slums or unauthorised colonies in the city.

According to the FM Sitharaman, a revamped version of the scheme – PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) – would offer enhanced loans from banks, UPI-linked credit cards and capacity-building support.

For middle-class Delhiites, who are paying EMIs in housing projects that have run into trouble, the Budget announced a new fund to expedite the completion of stressed projects.

The FM said in her speech, “Under the Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH), 50,000 dwelling units in stressed housing projects have been completed, and keys handed over to home-buyers. Another 40,000 units will be completed in 2025, further helping middle-class families who were paying EMIs on loans taken for apartments, while also paying rent for their current dwellings.”

“Building on this success, SWAMIH Fund 2 will be established as a blended finance facility with contributions from the Government, banks and private investors. This fund of Rs 15,000 crore will aim for expeditious completion of another 1 lakh units,” she said, an announcement that may bring relief to Delhiites looking to move into flats in the NCR region.

As promised by PM Modi in his election rallies in Delhi, gig workers will get several benefits soon.

According to the FM Sitharaman’s speech aimed at such workers across the country, “The government will arrange for their identity cards and registration on the e-Shram portal. They will be provided healthcare under PM Jan Arogya Yojana. This measure is likely to assist nearly 1 crore gig-workers.”

Election-bound Delhi’s slum dwellers and residents from unauthorised colonies may also gain from the Budget provision for boosting infrastructure in cities.

The FM said, “The Government will set up an Urban Challenge Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore to implement the proposals for ‘Cities as Growth Hubs’, ‘Creative Redevelopment of Cities’ and ‘Water and Sanitation’ announced in the July Budget.”

This fund would probably help fund projects like the Yamuna riverfront development, expanded tap water supply, sewer laying and pucca houses for slum dwellers in Delhi.

–IANS