₹1,400cr CM Fund set up to bridge infra shortfalls

In a bid to address infrastructure shortfalls and improve public amenities across the national capital, the Delhi government has established the Chief Minister Development Fund (CMDF) with a corpus of ₹1,400 crore for the financial year 2025-26.

- Alok KN Mishra

NEW DELHI: The initiative, cleared by the Delhi cabinet last week, is aimed at supporting localised, high-impact development works that complement existing schemes but fall outside their scope.

Following the cabinet's approval, the planning department has issued detailed guidelines for implementation. The fund is intended to be a flexible and responsive mechanism for infrastructure development at the community level.

Documents reviewed by HT stated, "The Chief Minister Development Fund is a new initiative of the Delhi government intended to supplement the capital/infrastructure needs of Delhi. The scheme CMDF aims to address the critical gaps in the existing frameworks for development by providing a dynamic, flexible mechanism for local-level development, and enhancing existing programmes rather than duplicating them."

The scheme sets a ceiling of ₹10 crore per project, although chief minister Rekha Gupta retains the discretion to relax this cap in exceptional cases.

CM Gupta had first announced the initiative during her budget presentation on March 25, noting that the CMDF would allocate funds to support and strengthen development efforts across the city.