BENGALURU: With no specific projects or grants in the Union Budget, Karnataka can still work on its infrastructure from the Rs 7,564 crore allocated for the railway projects, centrally sponsored schemes and interest-free loans for capital expenditure.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman has allocated Rs 1.5 lakh crore to all the states as an interest-free loan for 50 years. In 2024, Karnataka had availed around Rs 3,500 crore and implemented development works under PWD and irrigation departments and digitisation of land records.
This time too, the state is likely to avail around Rs 5,000 crore, finance department sources said. This time, the state has got Rs 51,850 crore tax devolution as against previous financial year’s Rs 46,000 crore. The state can also benefit from the Jal Jeevan Mission among other centrally sponsored schemes and get an average of over Rs 2 lakh crore for 2025-26.
However, none of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s pre-budget wishlist on policies and the development front, especially the Centre’s clearance for irrigation projects, featured in the budget.
Under the National Social Assistance Programme, the Centre covers 17% of state’s pensioners and it should increase it to 50 per cent, he had suggested.
The Centre currently provides pensions and financial assistance to only 14.41 lakh beneficiaries in Karnataka, while the state government supports an additional 68.66 lakh beneficiaries under its own schemes, he had said. He had also urged the release of Rs 5,495 crore and Rs 6,000 crore state-specific grants as recommended by the 15th finance commission. He had said the Centre that collects cess and surcharge should share them with the states.
Centre’s clearance for the Kalasa Banduri, Mekedatu balancing reservoir projects, declaration of the Upper Bhadra, Krishna Upper Bank (stage-III) as national projects, were among the CM’s wishlist.