New Delhi: Chief minister Rekha Gupta Tuesday said Delhi’s power companies had built up a financial gap of about Rs 38,000 crore, but govt would not allow discoms to pass the burden on to Delhi’s consumers.“Govt stands its ground firmly on the matter and is fighting the case in court,” she said.Gupta said power tariffs had not been increased after 2014, resulting in a widening gap between the actual revenue from the purchase and distribution of electricity. “This gap gradually accumulated in the form of a regulatory asset,” she added.Speaking in the assembly, Gupta slammed the previous AAP govt in Delhi, citing findings of CAG reports. “They ravaged Delhi and looted its people. We are now using pesticides (reforms) to flush out the termites that affected governance, development and execution of schemes and projects,” she said.Replying to a debate in the assembly over two CAG reports related to the previous Delhi govt’s finances and performance, Gupta alleged it was steeped in “scams” and headed by a CM (Arvind Kejriwal) who had refrained from signing files. She listed several CAG findings, including alleged lapsed central grants-in-aid to Delhi govt, announcement of schemes and availability of funds but no implementation, irregularities in tenders and non-payment of GST refunds during AAP’s term.Gupta said her govt ensured that 19 CAG reports from the previous regime were tabled in the assembly. “These reports lay threadbare the previous regime, highlighting how they looted people of Delhi. We have witnessed their scams in almost all the departments of govt,” she alleged.CM claimed the previous govt had funds, but either did not spend them or did so “irregularly”, and alleged it only “fooled” people without working on infrastructure like schools and roads. “They just made announcements, spent crores on publicity and the ultimate result remained nil. Centre’s grants lapsed while they always offered excuses and sought five years more to do things, before elections,” Gupta said.CM said AAP govt announced and took credit for 32 schemes but did not spend any money on them. Further, 34 schemes worth over Rs 2,000 crore got financial approval but remained unimplemented, she alleged.There was no immediate response from AAP.
