K'taka to get share in all Union Budget schemes: CM

Karnataka will “certainly” get a share in all schemes announced in the Union Budget, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Thursday, even as he slammed Congress for its critique of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Rs 45 lakh crore spending plan.

Addressing a news conference, Bommai said the Union Budget provisions on MSMEs, rural development, urban infrastructure, agricultural financing and others would benefit Karnataka.

“In all schemes, Karnataka will certainly get a share,” Bommai, the finance minister who is working out an election-oriented state budget for the 2023-24 fiscal, said.

Karnataka had demanded increase in agricultural financing and more focus on rural infrastructure. "These have been done, which would help the state," he said, citing Jal Jeevan Mission and PMAY (housing) schemes as examples. “Another concern was skill development for the youth given that ours is a technology-oriented state. Skill development has received more funds, which will help the state,” he pointed out.

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Karnataka will also gain from the allocation of Rs 2.4 lakh crore for railways, which Bommai said was Rs 1 lakh crore more than the previous fiscal. “It will help the state’s railway projects with clearances. The challenge before us is to give matching grants. We will focus on that in the state budget,” he said.

The Union Budget is "extremely progressive" and has "something to help everybody", Bommai said, lashing out at Congress especially for attacking the Modi administration's grant of Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Project. "This project is being talked about since S Nijalingappa's time. Nothing was done from the 60s till 2008 when the BJP came to power," Bommai said.

The previous UPA regime had stopped funds to irrigation projects in the state under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP), Bommai charged. "In 2012, the UPA government said that for a project worth Rs 1,000 crore, funding would be provided only if Rs 500 crore is spent first. Indirectly, it was like saying they won't give money," he said.

Asked about the Mekedatu project, Bommai said the Supreme Court is slated to hear the case in March. "The then government committed a mistake at the beginning itself and that's why it became an interstate dispute," he said.

Bommai also defended the Union Budget slashing MGNREGA allocation by over 32 per cent. "MGNREGA allocation hasn't reduced that much. Ongoing asset creation in rural areas won't be affected," he maintained, adding that all schemes have their own lifecycle.

Metro Phase-4 DPR underway

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said the government is preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for Phase-4 of Namma Metro, which will cover Bengaluru's outskirts. Bommai said Phase-3 of the metro had already received approval at an estimated cost of Rs 23,000 crore. "All Phase-2 works will be done by 2024. After 2024, Phase-3 will be taken up. Then comes Phase-4 for which DPR is being done," he said, adding that this extension would cover places like Bidadi and Magadi.