Karnataka CM to present his maiden budget today

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will present his maiden Budget on Friday in the state legislature. The Budget is most likely to be populist and tax free to set the tone right for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

The Budget presentation is scheduled at 12.30 p.m.

The Budget assumes importance in the wake of the state general assembly elections scheduled to be held in 2023 and prior to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections. Chief Minister Bommai is likely to announce a big bonanza for the city, as the image of the government has taken a beating with the pathetic condition of road infrastructure in the city.

CM Bommai, who hails from north Karnataka region, which is considered as the bastion of the BJP party, is expected to announce a large chunk of funds for developmental activities and programmes. After the Congress padayatra, Bommai has also come under pressure to allot a significant chunk of funds towards the irrigation projects, to show its commitment towards farmers.

According to sources, as all departments are meeting the revenue targets, there is no compulsion as such for CM Bommai to increase taxes. However, the efforts will be made for resource mobilisation and presenting a tax free budget. The farmers as well as the business community ravaged by the Covid pandemic as well as natural calamities in the last year have a lot of expectations from the Budget.

The state is likely to go for loans to the tune of Rs 40,000 – Rs 50,000 crore within the permissible limits, which would take the figures of debts of the state to Rs 5 lakh crore, sources in the finance department said.

Bommai is likely to increase the expenditure by 6 per cent to 10 per cent, taking the total size of the Budget from Rs 2,46,207 crore in the 2021-22 to 2.6 lakh crore for the current year. It is expected that all revenue-generating departments will exceed targets. The state’s tax revenue is expected to be Rs 1.21 lakh crore than the earlier figure of Rs 1.1 lakh crore, according to sources in the finance department.