Emerging from the shadows of the pandemic, Delhi’s economy grew faster than the national average in 2022-23, with its year-on-year growth likely to be recorded at 9.18%, a clear two percentage points more than the national average of 7%, finance minister Kailash Gahlot said on Wednesday.
Gahlot said Delhi’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) was likely to increase from Rs 9,04,642 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 10,43,759 crore in 2022-23 at the prevailing market prices – a spike of 15.4%.
“The real growth rate of Delhi’s GSDP in 2022-23 is likely to be 9.18% whereas at national level, this growth rate is estimated to be 7%. This means we are again attaining the level of pre-pandemic economic activities,” he said.
In 2020-21, Delhi’s GSDP at current prices contracted by 1.09%, reflecting the unparalleled effect of the pandemic and the subsequent containment measures. With industrial and market activities staggering back to normalcy from early 2022, the economy started looking up.
Delhi’s contribution to the national GDP is estimated to rise from 3.94% in 2011-12 to 4.09% in 2022-23, largely due to the service sector, which contributed 84.84% to the gross state value added while the secondary and primary sector contributed 12.53% and 2.63%, respectively.
Gahlot said Delhi’s per capita income was likely to increase to Rs 4,44,768 at current prices in FY 2022-23 from Rs 3,89,529 in 2021-22 – almost 2.6 times higher than the national average of Rs 1,72,000.
He said the major sources of tax revenue in 2023-24 was estimated to be GST and VAT Rs 37,200 crore (69%), state excise Rs 7,365 crore (14%), stamps and registration fee Rs 6,000 crore (11%) and taxes on motor vehicles Rs 3,000 crore (6%).
The budget estimates for 2023-24 included the highest allocation of Rs 1,6575 crore for education (21%), followed by 12% for health (Rs 9,742 crore) and transport (Rs 9,337 crore).
Gahlot said like other states, Delhi was also severely impacted because of the termination of the GST compensation programme in June 2022 and expected losses in revenue will run up to Rs 12,000 crore annually. “We have appealed to the Centre to continue providing compensation for the next five years until GST collections achieve 14% annual growth rate,” he added.