BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, is all set to present the state budget for the financial year 2025-26, at an estimated size of Rs 4.05 lakh crore, on Friday. He will create a history of sorts by presenting his 16th budget as finance minister, an all-time record by any finance minister of Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah had presented a Rs 27,354-crore revenue deficit budget with an outlay of Rs 3.71 crore in 2024-25. It’s left to be seen whether this time it will be a surplus budget or not.
“Over the past few days, we have held meetings with our cabinet ministers, senior officials from various departments, farmer leaders, minority and backward class organisations and religious heads.
Through this budget, I have made an effort to listen to the aspirations of people from all castes, creeds and classes of society in a nonpartisan manner. I believe that the budget is not just a calculation on a sheet of paper, but a manual for shaping the future of the seven crore Kannadigas of the state.
Every citizen of the state is covered by some government scheme. I am confident that I have made a sincere effort to benefit the beneficiaries through the budget,” he posted on X.
This was a clear indication that the CM will propose more populist schemes, besides the guarantees, to ensure every individual is covered in one or the other schemes of the government , according to analysts. The CM would try to deflect the blame on his government that its schemes are partisan, they added. But political analysts felt that the CM would present the budget keeping the upcoming local body polls in mind.
‘No stepping back from commitment to guarantees’
According to sources, he will not be stepping back from the government’s commitment to allocate adequate funds to the five guarantees. The last time, a whopping Rs 52,000 crore was earmarked for these.
He will also focus on adequate allocation for the capital expenditure and asset creation to boost the economy. The Mid-Term Fiscal Plan released last October indicated Karnataka’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) growth rate at 10.2 per cent, which is 2 per cent higher than the national average.
The GSDP is projected to be around Rs 32 lakh crore this time, compared to the Rs 28.09 lakh crore estimated in the 2024-25 budget. The increase in the GSDP can give liberty to go with more borrowing. The last time, borrowing was at Rs 1,05,246 crore and this time it would exceed.
“There might be an increase in borrowing, but the state, which has been recording a steady growth rate, has the capacity to repay the loans. The budget will be special this time with an impetus on development and the governor’s speech to the joint session of the legislature was indicative of this,” remarked former minister and senior MLA T B Jayachandra.
The CM, who had ensured the release of Rs 10 crore each to every legislator recently, irrespective of the party, for the development of their constituencies, would also make announcements covering most of the 224 Assembly constituencies, districts and regions.