New Delhi. The Supreme Court has strongly reprimanded the Delhi government over its failure to allocate funds for the rapid rail project. The court pointed out that despite a huge 3-year advertising budget of Rs 1100 crore, essential projects have remained incomplete. The rapid rail, officially known as ‘Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System’ (RRTS), connects Delhi with Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. Both the states are required to contribute funds for the successful implementation of the project.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the state government, the court commented, “An assurance was given for payment from your side. We warned that if payment was not made your advertising budget would be confiscated. Now we are issuing orders to confiscate it.” The order will be put on hold for only one week. If no action is taken within that time, the order will be implemented. If funding is not secured, the Delhi government may have to lose its advertising budget.”
#BREAKING #SupremeCourt pulls up Delhi Govt for not transferring funds for the RRTS project.
Court warns that it will order transfer of the advertisement funds of the Delhi Govt to the RRTS project, if the funds are not transferred within one week. https://t.co/qps8VfCMAB
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) November 21, 2023
rapid rail project
Under the Rapid Rail initiative, the central government aims to connect Delhi with major cities of nearby states. Presently, rail and road networks exist to facilitate travel to these cities. However, the government envisions increasing connectivity through the implementation of a rapid rail system. There are a total of three RRTS projects namely Delhi-Meerut, Delhi-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat, which aim to connect Delhi with Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana.
delhi government dues
The Delhi government faces outstanding payments of Rs 565 crore this year for the Delhi-Meerut, Delhi-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat RRTS projects. The surprising thing is that this year Delhi’s advertising budget is only Rs 550 crore. This discrepancy caused the Supreme Court to express dissatisfaction and consider the possibility of confiscating the advertising budget. The court had earlier commented on the advertising budget of the Delhi government during the hearing on RRTS fund. The next hearing on this matter is to be held on November 28.