Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah began presenting the state budget on Friday in the Assembly in Bengaluru, marking his 15th budget presentation and eighth as the chief minister, which is the highest by any CM in the state.
Siddaramaiah began budget speech by quoting Kannada legend Dr Rajkumar's song from the film Bangarada Manushya and also quoted a Vachana by Lingayat philosopher Aydakki Lakkamma. The Karnataka Budget outlay stands at ₹3.71 lakh crore this year.
This budget announcement also comes months ahead of the crucial and much-anticipated Lok Sabha election in April or May this year. The five main poll guarantees of the Congress party are expected allocations in the budget.
The five guarantee schemes are expected to cost the government Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore annually. The opposition BJP and JD(S) have been claiming that the guarantee schemes have drained the treasury of the state and the government is unable to take up any development work.
CM Siddaramaiah had presented a budget with a total outlay of 3.27 lakh crore in 2023-24. According to sources, the CM is all set to present the budget with an outlay of Rs 3.80 lakh crore. The credits are expected to cross Rs 1 lakh crore.
The CM is also likely to announce the creation of new districts from existing Belagavi and Tumakuru districts. Ahead of the budget presentation, the CM will chair a special cabinet meeting to get the approval for the budget.
(With inputs from IANS)
