• 3 percent increase in tax on petrol, diesel; fuel to cost more from April 1
• Pay more for liquor: 6 percent hike in excise duty on Indian-Made Foreign Liquor
• Rs. 8,344 crore allocated towards ‘comprehensive development’ of Bengaluru
• No special projects for Mysuru; region misses out on Film City too

Bengaluru:  Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa presented the State Budget for the fiscal year 2020-21 on the floor of the Legislative Assembly this morning. 

Wearing a green shawl that symbolically represents farmers, the CM first went to Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt in Malleswaram along with Budget copy and offered special pujas. 

It is the seventh Budget presentation by Yediyurappa who also doubles as Finance Minister. It is the fifth Budget as a CM. It is the 32nd Budget by a Finance Minister hailing from the Old Mysuru region. Yediyurappa hails from Bookanakere Village in Mandya District. 

Out of over 65 State Budgets (including full-fledged Budgets, ‘vote-on-account’ by Governments at the fag end of their term, and Budgets presented by new Governments), presented so far, since 1956, 31 have   been presented by Finance Ministers who trace their origin to the old Mysuru region.

Presenting the Budget, Yediyurappa said that the State was facing one of its worst financial crises. “In 2019-2020, as the GST compensation received from the Centre was low. We have not received Rs. 8,887 crore from the Centre, due to this, it was difficult to meet the deadlines set in the 2019-20 fiscal,” the Chief Minister said, mincing no words despite the fact that he belongs to the BJP — which is the ruling party at the Centre. 

To overcome the Budget constraints, the CM announced to hike taxes on petrol and diesel by three percent and has increased tax on Indian-Made Foreign Liquor by six percent. 

A child Budget for the first time

For the first time, the State Government has come up with a child Budget. Listing out what it entails, Yediyurappa  said that all policies and programmes for the development of children below the age of 18 years are consolidated and presented in the Budget.

 “As many as 279 programmes involving Rs. 36,340 crore are proposed in the Budget for the 2020-2021 which consists of Rs. 15.28 percent of the total volume of the Budget. He said that this Budget highlights the commitment of our Government towards all round development of children. Under this, seven new Bala Mandirs will be established in collaboration with the Central Government,” he said. 

Film City

The State Government has decided to spend Rs. 500 crore with private participation to establish a Film City with “global standards” in Bengaluru. Mysuru has missed out on Film City that was earlier proposed in Immavu in Varuna Constituency. Over 100 acres had been earlier identified for Film City at Immavu. 

Kempegowda statue

In a bid to honour Nadaprabhu Kempegowda — credited to be the founder of Bengaluru — a bronze statue will be raised on the premises of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) situated on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Rs. 66 crore will be allocated for the same, the CM announced.

Allocation for peripheral ring road, lakes

In an effort to decongest traffic in Bengaluru, Yediyurappa has announced Rs. 14,500 crore towards developing the peripheral ring road in the city. He also announced Rs. 100 crore towards the development of lakes in Bengaluru. He pointed out that Rs. 317 crore has already been earmarked previously for towards lake work.

Two Saturdays in a month will be observed as No Bag Days

Students have something to cheer as CM Yediyurappa announced that two Saturdays in a month will be observed as No Bag Days. In addition to this, he also announced that under the legislator’s area development programme, three Government Schools will be adopted and developed by legislators in their Constituencies. Meanwhile, English medium sections will be opened at 400 Urdu medium schools from the coming academic year.

In the medical education field, the CM announced that a centralised placement cell will be set up at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences for the placement of doctors, nurses, paramedics and pharmacy students who graduate from the State.