Thread by @accountantvarun

Kejriwal & his PR team was successful in selling the following crap -
1. Delhi's Budget is in Surplus in spite of giving freebies.
2. Delhi's overall revenue increased from 30k cr in 2014 to 60k cr in 2019.
And thus, Freebies are not drag on Treasury. It is also approved by CAG.

Reasons for above -
1. No of DTC Buses in Delhi has come down from 5200 to 3900. After certain years, Buses needs replacement due to wear & tear. The wear and tear of the DTC buses is quite visible in the present times. A big number of these buses are out of service.

Delhi govt which had the responsibility of Replacing them with new Buses, which they didnt due to lack of funds. Had they bought electric buses, then it would have helped reduce pollution too. Mumbai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad has electric buses. Electric Buses are better in reducing

pollution instead of 100% useless Odd-Even Scheme. Delhi needs additional buses to cater to needs of growing population & it would have helped reduce cars too. But, no of buses have reduced instead due to lack of funds. The last bus was bought in 2010 before CWC scam.

Spending money on providing Free Travel which should have been used to buy replacing old buses & buying addn buses is like using money kept aside to buy new Machinery on giving Bonus to employees.
financialexpress.com/india-news/dtc…

2. Delhi Jal Board is under Debt of 26k cr. Even a single rupee has been paid since 2014. This is off budget Debt which is not reflected in Budget thats why it is Surplus Budget. But, at some point in time, you will have to repay that loan right?
outlookindia.com/newsscroll/djb…

And whenever it will be repaid, that expenditure will be recorded in Budget and Surplus will vanish.
3. Delhi Govt raised Electricity rates for Industrial Use to compensate for losses arising due to Free Dometic use Electricity. Additional, Cess was levied.

Even, Charges for households in Higher consumption band was raised. In future, as more & more people consume electricity, Charges for Higher bands & for industrial use will increase further to compesate losses. Also, to distribute cheap electricty, Private Power Cos were forced

to accept lower Revenue Requirements by Delhi govt. This will affect performance of Pvt Cos and their health too.
financialexpress.com/economy/delhi-…

4. And the biggest reason behind increase in Delhi's overall Revenue & surplus budget is GST replacing old VAT & Service Tax.

Because, earlier Delhi's govt major revenue was VAT which used to get levied only on Goods. And service tax on services used to be collected by Central Govt. After GST, States & Centre share equal share of GST on goods as well as Services. Delhi being a city produces

Services more than Goods. And hence getting a share of GST on services has helped improved states finances as well. Other service Producing states show similar trends.
business-standard.com/article/pti-st…
These are the reasons Delhi govt could present surplus budget, not AAPs skills.

I forgot to add one more point I.e. increase in VAT on Petrol & Diesel. It was 16% earlier which was raised to 30%.