BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promised to examine the state’s proposals on tax devolution and to look at injustice meted out to the state under the 15th Finance Commission.
Siddaramaiah, after meeting the Finance Minister in Delhi, told reporters that he requested the Union Government adopt a pro-growth approach in tax devolution among states in the 16th Finance Commission. He appealed to Nirmala to include the state’s proposals in the Centre’s memorandum to the 16th Finance Commission.
Under the 15th Finance Commission, Karnataka’s share in tax devolution declined from 4.713% to 3.647%, and the state was also not allocated Rs 11,495 crore in special grants, resulting in a total loss of Rs 80,000 crore during the award period, he CM told her.
“A major reason for this is the over-reliance on the income-distance criterion, which received 45% weightage under the 15th Finance Commission. Karnataka has requested the 16th Finance Commission that the weightage for income-distance should be reduced by 20 percentage points and reallocated to fiscal contribution, which is the state’s share in national GDP,” he said.
‘Horizontal devolution formula’
CM Siddaramaiah also requested to discontinue Revenue Deficit Grants in their current format, as they are against the principles of fiscal discipline as proposed in the FRBM framework. “We have proposed that the same amount — which was 1.92% of Gross Union Receipts under the 15th Finance Commission — should be redistributed among all states using the horizontal devolution formula,” he said.
He sought Rs 1.15 lakh crore for Bengaluru and funds for Kalyana-Karnataka and Malnad regions.
SIDDARAMAIAH MEETS PREZ OVER PENDING BILLS
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called on President Droupadi Murmu about the state’s pending proposals with the Centre, and sought assent for seven pending Bills, including The Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (Amendment) Act, 2025 to provide a 4% quota to minorities in government tenders, which Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot did not approve.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2015, The Karnataka (Mineral Rights and Mineral Bearing Land) Tax Bill 2024, The Registration (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2024, The Notaries (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2025, The Registration (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2025 and The Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Act, 2024 are also pending.
“I called on the President since seven Bills have not been approved yet. She replied that the Bills were not with her and she had sent them to the departments concerned. I told her to get them and give assent,” he told reporters.