Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah presents ₹3.27 lakh crore budget, 5 guarantee schemes to cost ₹52,000 crore
The Hindu
While the budget presented by Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP before the Assembly elections did not impose any new tax, the budget presented by Siddaramaiah on July 7 has increased the Additional Excise Duty on Indian Made Liquor by 20%, and on beer by 5.71%, proposes to revise guidance value of properties across Karnataka, and sets a higher revenue target from stamp duty and registration, and proposes that the tax on certain vehicle categories will be revised, apart from setting high revenue targets for all departments to mobilise resources.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented his 14th State budget on July 7. He presented a budget with a total outlay of ₹3,27,747 crore, up from ₹3,09,182 crore in the budget presented by former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai in February 2023, for the same fiscal year (2023-24).
While the budget presented by Mr. Bommai before the Assembly elections did not impose any new tax, the budget presented by Mr Siddaramaiah on July 7 has increased the Additional Excise Duty on Indian Made Liquor by 20%, and on beer by 5.71%, proposes to revise guidance value of properties across Karnataka, and sets a higher revenue target from stamp duty and registration, and proposes that the tax on certain vehicle categories will be revised, apart from setting high revenue targets for all departments to mobilise resources.
This is probably to make room for the ₹52,000 crore earmarked for implementation of the five guarantee schemes of the Congress.
Defending the schemes, Mr. Siddaramaiah said these schemes will reach about 1.30 crore families. “This means, we will be providing, on an average, additional financial assistance ranging from ₹4,000 to ₹5,000 monthly to each household. The objective is to provide a universal basic income, a first such initiative in India,” Mr Siddaramaiah said in his budget speech.
He appealed to opposition parties ‘not to insult the wisdom of the common people’ in choosing the Congress, by criticising the guarantee schemes as ‘mere freebies’.
The schemes seems to have hit capital expenditure of Karnataka. Of the total expenditure, ₹2,50,933 crore will be spent on revenue expenditure, ₹54,374 crore on capital expenditure, and ₹22,441 crore for loan repayment.
As compared to the budget presented by Mr. Bommai, revenue expenditure has ballooned, and capital expenditure has shrunk significantly. In the BJP’s budget, revenue expenditure was pegged at ₹2,25,507 crore, and capital expenditure at ₹61,234 crore.
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