The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the finances of the Delhi government for 2024-25 was tabled by Delhi CM Rekha Gupta in the Assembly on Monday (10th August). The CAG report paints a worrying picture regarding the financial health of the national capital. It exposed how, under the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, which made several tall promises, funds remained underutilised and how various schemes were never implemented.
According to the report, Delhi registered slower economic growth than the rest of the country, and its contribution to the national GDP also declined over the past 10 years. The report concluded that the national capital failed to prioritise asset creation, which could impact its long-term growth. Notably, the annual growth of Delhi’s per capita GSDP, measured in terms of compound annual growth rate (CAGR), stood at 6.39 per cent during 2015-25, lower than the 8.14 per cent annual growth in the country’s per capita GDP during the same period.
Capital expenditure dropped
The CAG report highlighted that capital expenditure in Delhi plummeted over the years, being reduced to less than half. The data shows that in 2021-22, ₹8,311 crore was spent on capital projects in Delhi, but by 2024-25, the amount registered a sharp fall to ₹3,695 crore. In a single year, the expenditure on road transport infrastructure fell from ₹1,448 crore to ₹390 crore. Notably, capital expenditure includes the money spent by the government towards long-term assets and infrastructure creation, such as building roads, schools, and hospitals.
In terms of the share of the total budget, capital expenditure has been limited to single digits. The government spent ₹ 3,695 crore only on capital account during 2024-25, which was 6.53 per cent of the total expenditure. During 2023-24, the expenditure stood at ₹ 6,855 crore. As per the report, the decline was a direct consequence of reduced expenditure under different heads.
Money sanctioned remained unutilised
The CAG report also flagged how, under the AAP government, several schemes were announced, and funds were received for them, but they remained unimplemented. Out of a total budget estimate of ₹ 80,798.81 crore for 2024-25, the AAP government could only spend ₹61,911.19 crore. This led to the saving of ₹ 18,887.62 crore, out of which ₹ 11,263.34 crore was surrendered and the remaining
₹ 7,624.28 crore lapsed at the end of March 2025.
This means that 23.38 per cent of the budget authorised by the legislature to be spent on various activities and schemes could not be utilised by the AAP government. “Estimating expenditure much more than actual requirement was indicative of a deficient budgeting exercise,” the report stated.
The report pointed out that the government received supplementary funds mid-year, but even those remained unspent as the total expenditure could not even reach the level of the original estimated budget amount.
“The supplementary provisions during the years 2020-21 to 2024-25 constituted 1.37 per cent to 6.23 per cent of the original
provisions. However, the supplementary provisions proved unnecessary as the expenditure did not come up even to the level of original budget provisions,” the report mentioned.
Money moved from one budget head to another
The report also revealed that the government kept moving money from one department to another during the year. This is referred to as “re-appropriation”. However, part of the amount re-appropriated also could not be fully utilised by the government. “Scrutiny of Appropriation Accounts for the year 2024-25 revealed that under 16 sub-heads (Appendix-2.2) spread across six Grants (wherein there were final savings of more than ₹ 15 crore in each case), augmentation of provision proved unnecessary, as the expenditure was either equal to or did not come up to the level of original/supplementary budget provision,” the report said.
Again, as an indication of a deficient budgeting exercise, the re-appropriation resulted in cumulative non-utilisation (savings) of
₹ 1,445.72 crore (including the re-appropriation of ₹ 889.10 crore).
Expenditure on subsidies kept mounting
While the AAP government failed to spend the public money on capital expenditure and on various schemes, it generously spent the money on subsidies. “Delhi’s subsidy expenditure was 10.18 per cent of total revenue expenditure in 2024-25. Subsidies for power continued to dominate the total subsidy outgo, ranging from 67 to 73 per cent,” the report noted.
According to the report, the subsidies during the current year increased by ₹ 250 crore (5.17 per cent) from the previous year. The increase was mainly due to an increase of ₹ 361 crore on account of power subsidy, ₹ 22 crore on account of Urban Development (Water Subsidy) and ₹ 38 crore on account of Education subsidy.
The report cautioned that excessive spending on subsidies could “pose a serious challenge to fiscal sustainability, as excessive subsidy expenditure can crowd out critical development spending and strain budgetary resources needed for long-term growth”.
“There is a need for revenue augmentation, better expenditure control and structural reforms to ensure long-term fiscal health. Transparency should be enhanced in ensuring timely accounting and reporting. Steps should be taken for more judicious budget provisioning,” the report suggested.
