Basavaraj Bommai presents soft budget preparing BJP for coming elections

With civic body polls in Bengaluru and assembly elections in Karnataka looming, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has opted for a soft budget, free from fresh levies but with clear hopes that a sustained uptick in tax revenues will roll his grand projects in Bengaluru and districts. The budget, the last full-fledged one from the BJP regime as the state is scheduled to face assembly polls early next year, revealed signs of green shoots in Karnataka’s economy. In the fiscal year 2021-22, collections from state taxes are projected to outstrip targets by about Rs 12,000 crore. The result: the revenue deficit is expected to plummet by more than half.While tax revenues from commercial taxes, property registrations and liquor sales are on course, collections from the transport department have slumped due to fall in new vehicle sales. Bommai attributed this to disruptions in production of vehicles for want of semiconductor chips.

Taking note of the global shortage of these chips, the chief minister said he would offer incentives for investments in semiconductor manufacturing, by leveraging on the Centre’s Rs 76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) fund.The chief minister made a plethora of promises for Bengaluru, raising hopes among citizens ahead of a possible civic body election in near future. He promised to turn around the tech capital’s roads, lakes, drains, parks etc., with a Rs 6000 crore plan over the next three years. On the transportation side, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) will add 33-km of length next fiscal year, taking the network to 89-km. The government, the CM said, will seek the Centre’s nod to build a 32-km new line between Hebbal and JP Nagar, connecting the north and southern suburbs of Bengaluru and 13 km line between Hosahalli and Kadabagere in West Bengaluru. The BMRCL also has plans to connect Sarjapura and Dairy circle through a 37-km new line.Bommai also touched on the subject of legalizing `B’ Khatha properties in Bengaluru – means constructions on plots that are farmlands in official records. The government, he said without giving a commitment, will examine moving them into ‘A’ Khathas within the purview of existing town planning and revenue laws. The reference is sure to raise hopes in owners of six lakh such properties, ahead of a civic body election. Bengaluru, Bommai said, will get four super specialty hospitals of 500-bed each on all four sides of the city. The government will develop them in the public private partnership (PPP) mode.The chief minister also proposed a mega jewellery park in Bengaluru under the PPP mode to provide forward and backward linkage to goldsmiths, jewellery workers and micro and small enterprises. The project, he hoped, will add about 10,000 jobs.With elections looming, Bommai has set aside Rs 100 crore each for Veerashaiva Lingayat and Vokkaligara Development Corporations, and Narayana Guru Residential Schools in a few districts. He mentioned Haveri, the district he represents in the Assembly, a dozen times in his speech, seeking to pay back in every way possible.At a political level, the BJP regime has proposed to give up the government’s tight grip on temples that are under its control responding to a popular demand from pro-BJP groups. These temples will get freedom, and their management can decide how to develop them in future.The BJP regime also betrayed a sense of nervousness on the Mekedatu reservoir project, successive governments planned on the state’s borders with Tamil Nadu. The chief minister mentioned it in his budget speech, announcing a grant of Rs 1000 crore, though there is little progress on ground. Since this project promised drinking water to Bengaluru, Bommai spoke about it both to give a word of assurance to Bengalureans and to blunt the Congress party’s aggressive campaign, targeting the BJP, and trying to show the government in poor light.