Delhi govt seeks Rs 927 cr from Centre for G20 summit preparations

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday wrote a letter to the Centre seeking a grant of Rs 927 crore to take up special development work for the G20 summit in the national capital.

In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Sisodia said it will not be easy for the Delhi government to spend an extra Rs 927 crore from its limited resources for the G20 summit preparations.

Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, also said the Delhi government will extend full cooperation to the Centre for successfully hosting the G20 summit.

He asked the Centre to give the Delhi government Rs 927 crore for special preparations ahead of the summit.

Delhi government departments have prepared a plan for infrastructure development and various activities and programmes in the city. These include beautification work around the venues for G20 summit events and for hosting different activities and programmes at prominent places in the city, he said.

The Centre has not been paying anything to Delhi as its share in central taxes and also did not provide any additional grant to the city government, Sisodia claimed.

Even the funds being given to civic bodies in states as per their population are not being provided to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), he alleged.

India assumed the presidency of the influential bloc G20 at its annual summit in Bali in November last year with a promise of striving to ensure that the grouping acts as a global prime mover to envision new ideas and accelerate collective action to deal with pressing challenges.

India is hosting a series of events and meetings ahead of the G20 summit later this year.