84 pc of Delhi households to have reduced power bills: Arun Jaitley

New Delhi, Jul 30: In a good news for Delhi, the government on Wednesday said electricity bills of 84 per cent of households in the capital will come down immediately even as it promised better infrastructure, more hospitals and educational institutions to make it a 'world class city'.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, gave no indication about end to the central rule in Delhi and merely said a political solution would have to be found to the stalemate with either some party forming the government or fresh elections being held. He was replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on Delhi Budget which was later passed by a voice vote.

Talking about the provisions of the Rs 36,776 crore Delhi budget which included Rs 260 crore towards power subsidy, Jaitley said the provisions made the central and the city's budget would reduce the electricity bills. "Because of provisions in the central budget and this budget, 84 per cent households will get reduced power bills as compared to the previous month," he said.

In the central budget, Rs 700 crore has been provided for power and water reforms. Referring to the power problems witnessed in Delhi recently, Jaitley said it was because of the weak distribution infrastructure even though the availability was sufficient.

The distribution infrastructure has not seen investment for the past few years and it "cracked up", he said, adding this would be strengthened.

Elaborating on the provisions of the Delhi budget, Jaitley said the proposals include introduction of 1,380 low floor and 400 cluster buses, cleaning of Yamuna, higher pension for over 4.3 lakh aged persons and more schools and hospitals.

PTI