Funding for Upper Bhadra lifts BJP’s spirits in poll-bound Karnataka, Congress says it's too little

Karnataka’s ruling BJP cheered at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement of Rs 5300 crore funding for Upper Bhadra, an ambitious micro irrigation project, responding to a long-pending demand.

The state government was looking for some projects for Karnataka as the state is headed to assembly polls in about three months. Two years ago, Sitharaman had announced big-ticket highway projects for poll-bound Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The finance minister, the BJP state unit said, has met a five-decade old demand with the announcement. The Opposition Congress, however, said the Centre has given a measly sum against the requirement of Rs 23,000 crore for the project.


Sitharaman represents Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha and is expected to participate in the BJP election campaign in the coming weeks.

The Upper Bhadra is a major lift irrigation project in central Karnataka, covering the drought-prone areas in the districts of Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Tumakuru and Davangere. The four districts make up 29 of Karnataka's total 224-assembly seats and are important for the party as both Congress and JD-S have a strong presence in most of them.

Since most irrigation projects cover the Old Mysuru, Mumbai-Karnataka and Hyderabad-Karnataka region, Upper Bhadra has been crucial for the arid regions dependent on rains. Bommai said he had always wanted the Centre to treat Upper Bhadra as a national project, and he was happy the Centre had announced such a big funding support for the project. It would irrigate more than one lakh hectares of farmland across the four districts, he said.

Besides Upper Bhadra, the FM has also announced Rs 1350 crore funding support for the Bengaluru suburban rail project, something the state government has been keenly pursuing. The Congress, however, said the tiny allocation against the need for Rs 18,000 crore for the project showed the Centre’s disregard towards Karnataka and that the government had no plans to complete the project in a time-bound manner.