The residents of Delhi are a rather disgruntled lot, having just been handed a rather fat bill that they have to pay for the Commonwealth Games.

Annapurna Sarkar's household budget has fallen apart. The household expenditure is up by at least Rs 1,000 per month as the Delhi government has rolled back subsidy on cooking gas and hiked Value Added Tax (VAT) on food items to raise money for the Commonwealth Games.

Annapurna and her friends cook lunch together to conserve LPG. They are bitter that the government is giving priority to the Games at a time they are battling a severe food inflation.

"My husband and mother-in-law are unwell. I am the only earning member. How will I manage? Government workers have got a 8 per cent pay hike, but my salary is still the same," she said.

"Commonwealth Games are fine. But the government has to be considerate towards the middle-class and the poor," said Mitali, a housewife.

The Games have been plaguing citizens of Delhi for the past couple of years because of the construction works which are eating into the road space. Now it is directly pinching them in the pocket.

Delhi Government is building non-sports infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games at a budget of Rs 7,000 crore which includes new roads, better transport system, and airport. In 2006, the fund allocated under this head was Rs 770 crore. Thus, it's nearly a 10-time increase.

"There are lots of roads being constructed, new flyover projects and expenses which we had not anticipated in the beginning," Delhi Finance Minister A k Walia said.

And it still falls short of 2,000 crore rupees to finish up.

For the government it's a matter of prestige, but the Commonwealth Games are coming to Delhi at a great price.