Pre-budget meet with FM: Karnataka seeks more funds to support Bengaluru’s infrastructure

Karnataka has sought more funds from the Centre for investments in Bengaluru’s infrastructure projects such as metro rail, sub-urban rail, road transport etc.

Bengaluru is one of the largest contributors to India's economy. The city requires huge investments, home minister Basavaraj Bommai said at a pre-budget interaction with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The home minister represents Karnataka in the GST Council.

Bommai acknowledged the Centre was already supporting these projects and requested for more allocation in the areas of mobility, solid-waste management and in other areas of critical infrastructure. He also urged Sitharaman to bear 90% cost of Yettinahole drinking water project by treating it as a national project as it would provide drinking water to drought-prone districts of Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Ramanagara, Bengaluru rural and Tumakuru.


Karnataka, he said, was one of the first states to agree for a cost-sharing model for implementing big-ticket railway projects. The funding for the same, however, has not been commensurate with Karnataka’s needs, he said, calling for more funds for the ongoing projects.

The 15^th Finance Commission, Bommai said, has recommended a special grant of Rs 5495 crore to Karnataka in its report for 2020-21. He urged Sitharaman to accept the recommendation and award the grant in recognition of Karnataka among the best tax-governed states. He also urged the finance minister not to revise states’ allocation estimates downwards as it would badly hurt their expenditure commitments.