BENGALURU: The Legislative Assembly on Wednesday approved Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s 17th State Budget for 2026-27 with an outlay of Rs 4.48 lakh crore, even as the CM asserted that the borrowing is within the framework of FRBM Act, while legislators from the opposition BJP and JDS walked out of the House, terming it an “empty vessel” budget.
Hitting back, Siddaramaiah claimed that his budget is a full pot, not an empty vessel, for the people of the state.
No state can avoid taking loans: Siddaramaiah
"There has been criticism that the government is running on debt. But our government has borrowed Rs 1.32 lakh crore, and when the budget size is Rs 4,48,0004 crore, how can it be called a debt-ridden budget? The opposition parties’ allegation that the government is running on debt is far from the truth. No state or country can avoid taking loans. They should be taken for social welfare and development,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserted.
“The state’s total liabilities of Rs 8,24,000 crore are within 25% of GSDP projected at Rs 33,05,500 crore. BJP, which was in power from 2008 to 2013, too borrowed money. The loan doubles every five years. After Modi became Prime Minister, he borrowed Rs 165 lakh crore. The country’s GDP at 7.4% is less than the state’s GSDP growth at 8.1%,” he pointed out.
Rubbishing the allegation that debt has increased because of guarantees, he said Rs 1.31 lakh crore has been spent on guarantees for three years with a steady allocation of over Rs 51,000 crore every year.
He clarified that Yuvanidhi guarantee has not been stopped and Rs 600 crore has been allocated. Taking a swipe at BJP, he said the opposition party is spreading misinformation about guarantees, but Rs 10,600 crore has been allocated for other social security schemes as well, he said.
“The most downtrodden in society are being empowered. BJP believes in a trickle-down economy, while our policy is based on the principle of universal basic income and demand-driven economics.The budget is development-oriented and pro-people,” he said, suggesting that opposition parties should not oppose it, for the sake of it.
“The budget was welcomed, criticised and reviewed.
But among my 17 budgets, this one was well received with 50 legislators from all parties participating in the debate for 24 hours and 45 minutes,” he said, and thanked the legislators.
The House adopted the Finance Bill, the Appropriation Bill and the supplementary estimates of Rs 14,768 crore.