Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday criticised the 16th Finance Commission’s recommendation of allotting 4.131% of the central tax pool to Karnataka, saying the state has been shortchanged compared to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
He pointed out that several smaller states have been given a higher share despite Karnataka ranking first in per capita income and second in GST collections.
Speaking to the media in Kalaburagi, Siddaramaiah described the Union Budget presented by Nirmala Sitharaman as disappointing and lacking a clear vision. He alleged that Karnataka and other southern states were once again ignored, with no grants for irrigation projects or Metro rail.
He said the Centre had not sanctioned an AIIMS for Raichur despite repeated appeals and noted that the ₹5,000 crore sought as matching grants under Article 371(J) for Kalyana Karnataka found no mention in the Budget. He added that while Karnataka contributes ₹4.5–5 lakh crore annually to the Centre, it receives only about 14% in return, and demands to include cess and surcharges in the divisible pool were also ignored.
The Chief Minister said the proposed high-speed rail links between Bengaluru–Hyderabad and Bengaluru–Chennai would offer limited benefit to Karnataka, as most of the route lies outside the state. He suggested new routes connecting Bengaluru with Mumbai and Mangaluru instead.
He also said allocations for rural and urban local bodies were lower than those given to other states. Siddaramaiah announced that his government would allocate ₹43,000 crore to develop the most backward taluks of north Karnataka based on the High-Power Committee on Regional Imbalances, and said Bengaluru alone would need ₹1.15 lakh crore over the next five years to sustain its growth.
