Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai on Friday presented the State Budget for FY 2023-24, which had a little something for everyone keeping the upcoming Assembly elections in mind.
Bommai presented a Rs 3.09 lakh crore Budget with gross borrowings of Rs 77,750 crore.
Here are the key takeaways from the Budget:
- In a first in the post-pandemic situation, CM Bommai presented a "revenue surplus" Budget. Revenue receipts were estimated to be Rs 402 crore more than revenue expenditure. The state is expecting a revenue of Rs 32,000 crore against a target of Rs 29,000 crore in revenue collection for the excise department towards the end of this fiscal. The target for 2023-24 is fixed at Rs 35,000 crore, a 20 per cent increase from the previous year's target.
- Bommai said that Karnataka has also brought down the fiscal deficit to 2.6 per cent of GSDP. "As per the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the fiscal deficit needs to be below three per cent. The fiscal deficit is expected to be Rs 60,581 crore," said CM Bommai.
- "The present government has taken the historic decision in respect of constituting a Tribunal for fixing uniform rates for land acquisition under phase-3 of UKP that has been pending for the last several years. Rs 5,000 crore will be released for speedy compensation to farmers and land owners," he said.
- Rs 1,000 crore will be released to commence works on Kalasa-Bandoora Nala Thiruvu Yojane.
- The government has allocated Rs 25,000 crore to the irrigation sector in the current year. And, a total grant of Rs 39,031 crore for agriculture and allied activities in the year 2023-24.
- CM Basavaraj Bommai on Friday announced the construction of a Ram Mandir in Ramanagara and allocated Rs 1,000 crore for the development of temples and mutts.
- Seeking to woo farmers in an election year, Bommai announced an increase in the limit of interest-free short-term loans given to farmers from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh from the coming financial year. The government, Bommai said, has decided to give an additional subsidy of Rs 10,000 in the year 2023-24 under a new scheme 'Bhoo Siri' for 'Kisan Credit Card' holders.
- "Free coaching will be provided to 10,000 youth belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, and Minority Classes," said CM Bommai.
- Increasing significantly compared to last year, Rs 795 crore will be provided in the current year to the six development Corporations belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Various schemes will be implemented at a total cost of Rs 1,842 crore including the additional grants provided to the Corporations and the amounts already available with them.
- He said that 20,000 houses will be built for the economically weaker section in Bengaluru this year.
- The government will open a web portal for the adoption of stray dogs, Bommai announced in his speech.
- "With seven cities being selected in the State under Smart City Mission, Rs 5,900 crore has been released, out of which 506 works worth Rs 4,157 crore have been completed," the chief minister said.
- He said the approval has been given for constructing houses for 5,188 pouranoukaras in the State out of which 3,733 houses have been completed. In the current year, under the 'Poura Asare' scheme, it is proposed to construct houses for 5,000 houseless Pouranoukaras at a cost of Rs 300 crore.
- CM Bommai announced that the government will build integrated township districts neighbouring Bengaluru. "Expression of Interest has been invited from private organisations to build integrated Townships in Mysuru, Chikkaballapura, Chithradurga, Haveri, Kolar, and Ramanagara under Public-Private- Partnership model. These Townships will give a new dimension to City planning and will create better lifestyles and working environments," Bommai said.
- Electricity connections will be provided to about 2.35 lakh un-electrified households at a cost of Rs 124 crore under 'Belaku' scheme. Also, the government will replace 1.37 lakh defunct transformers and also install new 67,713 transformers, and provide electricity connections to 4,268 borewells under Ganga Kalyana Yojane and various other people-friendly measures.
- Under the Amrutha Nagarothana scheme, Rs 6,000 crore worth of works are being implemented in Bengaluru city. Development of a total of 108 kms road will be taken up under the High-Density Corridors scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 273 crore. To ensure that there is a free flow of rainwater and to avoid flooding, Rs 1,813 crore has been provided to undertake the development of a total of 195 kms of drainage and culverts.
- To reduce the traffic congestion in Bengaluru city, Bommai proposed to develop 75 important junctions with the highest traffic congestion at a cost of Rs 150 crore. As a supplement to this, traffic congestion will be reduced by using Artificial Intelligence for the management of traffic signals by adopting Seamless Signalling.
- Rural Sports Meets will be conducted from the village level to the State level to introduce and encourage rural and traditional sports like Kho-Kho, Wrestling, Kabaddi, Kambala, Bullock Cart race, and others to the children. One well-equipped Sports Court in every Gram Panchayat jurisdiction will be constructed under the NREGA scheme at a cost of Rs 5 crore.
- Karnataka has recorded the highest growth rate in GST collection amongst big States of the country. For the year 2022-23, the revenue collection target for Commercial Taxes Department was fixed at Rs 72,000 crore against which revenue collection of (excluding GST compensation) Rs 83,010 crore is achieved by January end. This is more than the Budget estimates by 15 per cent.