Karnataka Budget 2018 Highlights

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday began presentation of his coalition government's maiden Budget for fiscal 2018-19.

Here are highlights of Karnataka Budget 2018

Karnataka Budget 2018 Live

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Kumaraswamy concludes Budget speech

English medium classes will be conducted along with existing Kannada medium classes in govt Kannada primary schools

Anganwadi centres under women and child welfare department will be strengthened as 'Balasnehi' centres

Education: Rs 150 cr special package to repair govt primary, high-school and PU college buildings

Kayaka scheme: Loan of up to Rs 10 lakh to enhance skill development and entrepreneurship skills in SHGs on cluster model or individually

Rs 190 crore for a scheme to safeguard interests of coconut growers

Israel model of irrigation to be adopted across 5000 hectares each in Karwar, Tumakuru, Yadgir and Haveri districts at a cost of Rs 150 crore

Annabhagya scheme: Quantity of rice cut from 7 kg to 5 kg

Education: Rs 26581 cr; Water resources: Rs 18142 cr; Urban development: Rs 17727 cr; Energy: Rs 14499 cr; Social Welfare: Rs 14123 cr; PWD: Rs 10200 cr

Rs 15825 crore for six elevated corridors across Bengaluru

HDK allots Rs 25 cr for various Mutts across the state

Rs 30 cr for film university in Ramanagara

To facilitate the farmers to avail new loans action will be taken by the govt to issue clearance certificate by waiving the arrears form the defaulting account. For this purpose, Rs 6500 crore is earmarked in 2018-19 budget: Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy while presenting the budget

I have decided to waive all defaulted crop loans of farmers up to 31 Dec 2017 in the first stage. Farmers who repaid the loan within time,as an encouragement to the non defaulting farmers, I have decided to credit the repaid loan amount or Rs 25000 whichever is less: Karnataka CM

Rs 1429 crore has been allotted for construction of 990 new hospitals and maintenance of over 200 existing hospitals.

Kumaraswamy announces Rs 34,000 Cr farm loan waiver in Karnataka Budget

Size of the #KarnatakaBudget: Rs 2,13,734 crore; Rs 150 crore for agriculture development based on #Israel model.

CM Kumaraswamy says he will continue all schemes and programmes that Siddaramaiah announced in last budget.

Tax on liquor up 4%

Petrol fare hiked by Rs 1.14, diesel Rs 1.12

Power tariff up 20 paise per unit

Rs 34,000 crore for farm loan waiver

Loan of up to Rs 2 lakh per farmer family waived

Rs 50 crore alloted for rejuvenation of Bellandur lake in Bengaluru

Earlier Story

"Kumaraswamy will present the full-fledged Budget for 2018-19 of the JD-S and Congress coalition government in the Assembly as he holds the Finance portfolio," the official in the CM's Office told IANS.

Though Congress Legislature Party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told Kumaraswamy to present a Supplementary Budget since he had presented the Budget for this fiscal on February 16, the Chief Minister secured Congress President Rahul Gandhi's approval to present the full Budget as the head of the coalition government.

"I am bound by the people's verdict to present the full budget after the May 12 Assembly polls, in which about 100 new legislators were elected and expect me to present programmes and policies of the new government," Kumaraswamy told reporters here on June 19.

As agreed by the coordination committee of the alliance partners, the budget will have details of the loan waiver for the distressed farmers reeling under crop losses due to consecutive droughts or floods in the recent years.

"Farm loans equivalent to Rs 10,000 crore are likely to be waived along with interest on them, as decided at a special meeting the Chief Minister held with Cooperation Minister Bandeppa Khashempur and Agriculture Minister N.H. Shivashankara Reddy on June 25 here," recalled the official.

The loans were borrowed by farmers across the state from district cooperative banks and state cooperatives.

"A decision to waive crop loans farmers raised from state-run banks will be taken after the central government responds to the chief minister's letter for its concurrence," added the official, preferring anonymity.

The proposed write-off will be in addition to a similar waiver the previous Congress government declared on June 21, 2017 for over 22-lakh farmers who borrowed crop loans up to Rs 50,000 each from the cooperative banks.

The previous waiver cost the state exchequer Rs 8,165 crore in fiscal 2017-18.

To free the distressed farmers from the debt burden, the state government has decided to conduct a survey of agriculture borrowers with details of loans availed from which institutions, including cooperatives, regional and state-run banks.

According to the state agriculture department's estimates, of the 74-lakh farmers across the state, 25-lakh of them don't take institutional loans but borrow from private sources, including moneylenders at a high interest rate and get caught into debt trap.

In a related development, opposition BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa sought a White Paper on the state's finances ahead of the Budget presentation, alleging that loans and bills amounting to Rs 2.38-lakh crore were outstanding.

"The coalition government should first present a White Paper on the state's finances, which are under stress due to mismatch between revenue collection and expenditure," Yeddyurappa told reporters here.

(IANS)