All eyes on Budget: Will Bengaluru take a fund cut or see an increased outlay?

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has launched a “Brand Bengaluru” campaign, and the government is deliberating governance reforms, creating an optimistic buzz in the city. However, all eyes are now on the State Budget that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will present on July 7, to see whether the city will take a fund cut, or will see an increased outlay.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has launched a “Brand Bengaluru” campaign, and the government is deliberating governance reforms, creating an optimistic buzz in the city. However, all eyes are now on the State Budget that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will present on July 7, to see whether the city will take a fund cut, or will see an increased outlay.

This comes amidst reports that most departments that are not implementing any of the five guarantee schemes of the government will likely take a fund cut in the Budget. However, the city’s civic body has sought higher funding than the one presented by former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in March 2023. This proposal is being pushed by Mr. Shivakumar.

A senior Congress leader said whether the Bengaluru Development and Water Resources departments held by Mr. Shivakumar would take a fund cut or not is being keenly watched, as it could be a sign of the dynamics between the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.

Mr. Bommai had given a higher than usual outlay of ₹9,698 crore for “Comprehensive Development of Bengaluru” in the February 2023 Budget, including ₹6,000 crore under the Amrutha Nagarothana Scheme, white-topping of roads at a cost of ₹1,450 crore, and ₹1,000 crore for suburban rail.

The BBMP has sought a total funding of ₹7,100 crore from the State in the upcoming Budget. This includes a controversial proposal for 17 new flyovers, including the 11 approved in the March budget presented by the BJP government, and whitetopping 135 km of arterial roads in the city.

Given that there has been considerable opposition from civic activists and urban mobility experts to go for new flyovers, a final call on these flyover projects will be taken in a meeting between Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar, which is yet to take place.

Meanwhile, a senior civic official said that there is ₹2,200 crore worth of pending bills for works taken up under the Government of Karnataka grants in the civic body, for which the Budget has to make provisions. This is apart from another ₹2,200 crore of pending bills of works taken up by BBMP using its own funds, taking the total pending bills in the civic body to a whopping ₹4,400 crore.