Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, after storming back to power in the State presented the Budget with a total outlay of ₹3.37 lakh crore. Allocations were made across sectors and regions with the aim to prioritise the provision of infrastructure, welfare of the weaker sections of society, and the promotion of economic development.
This is the Chief Minister’s - who holds the finance portfolio- 14th Budget, and his seventh Budget as the Chief Minister. With this, he becomes the CM to have presented the highest number of budgets after Ramakrishna Hegde.
Major announcements
On the five guarantees, touted as the core reason for Congress’s victory, ₹52,000 crore will be spent and is expected to reach about 1.30 crore families. “This is done with the objective of providing a Universal Basic Income for our citizens. This is the first such initiative in the entire country,” the CM said.
The government will also be hiking the additional excise duty on India on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) by 20 per cent on all 18 slabs. Additionally, the duty on beer will has been hiked from 175 per cent to 185 per cent.
For the development of the State’s capital Bengaluru, approximately ₹12,000 crore is being spent through various schemes such as Amruta Nagarothana, road white-topping, solid waste management, encroachment removal, and repairs of canals, for the development of the infrastructure of the city.
Additionally, for reducing traffic congestion, Namma Metro and Bengaluru Suburban Railway Projects are being implemented at an estimated cost of ₹30,000 crores. These projects will require at least five years for completion, the CM said.
In order to provide social security to the gig workers in the unorganised sector, employed in e-commerce companies like Swiggy, Zomato, and Amazon, the government will be providing an insurance facility of ₹4 lakh.
Siddaramaiah, in his Budget, has also bought back the distribution of eggs in schools, which was stopped by the BJP government. According to the Budget announcement, 60 lakh school students studying in classes 1 to 8 in government and aided schools are being given eggs, peanut chikki, or bananas once a week as supplementary nutrition.
For the minority community, viewed as vote bank , multiple announcements were made. 62 minority Morarji Desai Residential Schools in the State will be upgraded as integrated schools from 6th to 12th standard, benefitting 13,000 students, and interest-free loans will be provided to the tune of ₹20 lakh to minority students to pursue graduate and post-graduate courses in foreign universities.
Hitting out at Bommai govt
Siddaramaiah, in his address took shots at the previous Bommai government. He noted that the economy of the State deteriorated during the term of the previous government. The provisional estimate released by the National Statistical Office shows the GSDP growth of 7.9 per cent in 2022-23 compared with the State’s GSDP growth of 11 per cent during 2021-22.
He pointed out that the previous government had given approval to a huge number of projects in major departments with scant regard to the principles of fiscal discipline, and the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) inflows decreased to $10 billion in 2022-23 from $22 billion last year, and even though, Karnataka is one of the main contributors to the Centre’s revenue collection, only 3.65 per cent of the divisible pool is devolved to the State by the Central Government.