Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused Karnataka’s Congress regime of causing higher state inflation by raising prices of essential goods. She countered Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s claims of discrimination by stating that central transfers have significantly increased under the NDA compared to the UPA era, showcasing the development support provided to the state.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman came down heavily on Karnataka’s Congress regime, blaming it for the state’s inflation spiking beyond the national average after the Siddaramaiah regime hiked the prices of essentials including petrol and diesel and milk.
Between June 2023 and June 2024, while the average national inflation was 5.4%, it averaged 6.1% in Karnataka. In contrast, the state had a lower inflation at 5.39% from June 2022 to May 2023, as opposed to the national average of 6%, she said, addressing a media conference.
The FM blamed the increased inflation on the recent increases in the prices of milk, petrol & diesel, property guidance value, stamp duty charges, vehicle registration charges and additional lifetime tax on vehicles even as the ruling Congress has been holding protests in Bengaluru accusing the Centre of denying Karnataka its due share.
She also sought to debunk Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s allegation that his state was receiving a step motherly treatment from the Centre. The central transfers to the state, she asserted, has increased substantially.
Her statement comes a day after Siddaramaiah boycotted the Niti Aayog’s meeting in Delhi, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a sign of protest to what his government felt the Centre not granting any projects to the state in the budget.
Between 2004 and 2014, when the UPA government was in power at the Centre, Karnataka received only Rs 81,791 crore in tax devolution. In contrast, in the 10 years since 2014, the state received Rs 2,95,818 crore.
The state received Rs 60,779 crore in grant-in-aid in the 10 years under the UPA,
But Rs 2,39,955 crore under the same head in the 10 years under the NDA, Sitharaman said, releasing the numbers at the media conference.
In the current fiscal year, the State will get Rs 45,485 crore in tax devolution. In addition to the Rs 8312 crore the state has already got 50-year interest-free loan, this year, under the same head, the state will get Rs 2006 crore loan, she said, seeking to rubbish the Congress party’s campaign as the one spreading misinformation serving no purpose.
While the UPA-II regime gave Karnataka Rs 835 crore in five years, the recent budget has allocated Rs 7559 crore this fiscal year (2024-25) alone, the FM said. There were 31 ongoing railway projects for laying new tracks covering a length of 3,840 km in the state. The worth of these projects is Rs 47,016 crore.
The railways has built 638 rail over-brides and under-brides in the state over the past 10 years. There were seven Vande Bharath trains in operation in the state, she said.
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