Bangalore (Karnataka) [India]July 7 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented the state budget for 2023-24 on Friday.
The Congress government, which recently came to power in the southern state, has increased the size of the budget from Rs 265,720 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 327,747 crore in 2023-24, an increase of Rs 62,027 crore, a growth rate of 23 per cent.
Of the total expenditure, revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs 2,50,933 crore and capital expenditure at Rs 54,374 crore, an increase of 23 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively.
This is Siddaramaiah’s seventh budget as chief minister, having presented six budgets during his tenure as chief minister of Karnataka from 2013 to 2018.
The state government termed this budget as its ‘guarantee budget’ and said that it fulfills all the five major promises made to the people before the assembly elections. A total of Rs 35,410 crore has been allocated in today’s budget for the implementation of those pre-poll promises.
“Equitable distribution of wealth among all sections of the society is as important as attracting capital investment and generating more employment for the economic progress of the State. Hence, our government is implementing these guarantee schemes, which are not only free facilities given to the people but also necessities to distribute the fruits of economic development among the poor and the underprivileged,” said a press release from the CMO. Has gone.
The five “guarantees” of the Congress party mentioned in the manifesto were 200 units of free electricity for all; Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the female head of each household; 10 kg rice free to all members of BPL family; Rs 3,000 per month for graduate youth; Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (18-25 age group) for two years; and free travel in government buses for women.
In the elections held on 10 May for the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, the Congress won 135 seats and ousted the then ruling BJP, which got 66 seats, while the Janata Dal (Secular) won 19 seats in the results declared on 13 May.
Siddaramaiah today said that a fund of Rs 17,500 crore has been kept to provide Rs 2,000 monthly to women.
According to a press note, the CM said, “The objective of the Griha Laxmi Yojana is to provide relief to the public from uncontrolled price rise by direct cash transfer of Rs 2,000 per month to women.”
“The scheme will help in poverty alleviation, women empowerment, improvement in health and nutrition of mother and children and economic self-reliance of women in the household. Direct cash transfers will not only boost the local economy through multiplier effects, but will also help generate more jobs.
About 1.30 crore women are expected to benefit from this scheme. Enrollment of beneficiaries will be started from 16th July and direct cash transfer will be started from 15th August – Independence Day.
A total of Rs 9,000 crore has been allocated for free electricity up to 200 units under the Griha Jyoti Yojana.
A total of 10 kg rice will be made available every month under the Annabhagya scheme.
“Our government will also provide 5 kg rice in addition to the 5 kg rice provided by the central government. This project will make Karnataka a hunger-free state and help eliminate malnutrition,” said the CM.
An allocation of Rs 10,275 crore has been provided for the Additional Rice Scheme, which will benefit around 4.4 crore people.
“Since the Food Corporation of India, which is under the control of the central government, has suddenly decided to stop selling food grains to the state, our government is looking for alternative ways to get food grains. Hence, a cash amount equal to the cost of 5 kg of food grains will be transferred to the card holder’s account from the month of July itself till the procurement of food grains is completed,” the CM explained as the tussle between the state and the government is on . Center regarding grain allocation.
Besides this, on the taxation front, the state government has proposed to increase the additional excise duty on Indian Made Liquor (IML) by 20 per cent. For beer, the additional excise duty will be raised from 175 per cent to 185 per cent, an increase of 10 percentage points.
The state government says that despite the tax, the price of liquor in the state would be lower than that of neighboring states, but did not provide any rationale behind this argument. (ANI)
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