Union budget doubled in 6 years, but no growth in allocations to Karnataka: CM Siddaramaiah

All Congress legislators from the state will participate in the protest at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday.

When the Union budget’s size grew, the devolution of taxes and grants to states should also have seen a proportional increase, Siddaramaiah said. “But this hasn’t happened,” he said.

The total amount collected annually from Karnataka by the Centre in the form of taxes, cesses and surcharges was around Rs 4.3 lakh crore. Comparing this with the allocation of around Rs 50,257 crore, the state was getting Rs 12-13 back for every Rs 100 it sent to the Centre, Siddaramaiah said.

Karnataka’s tax share was reduced from 4.71 per cent under the 14th Finance Commission to 3.64 per cent under the 15th Finance Commission. As a result, the state will lose around Rs 62,098 crore between 2020-21 and 2025-26, the period when the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission are in force.

Siddaramaiah also criticised the Union government for not sharing cesses and surcharges with the states. “The Centre keeps everything,” he said, adding that the state would argue strongly with the 16th Finance Commission to ensure that states get a share of cesses and surcharges too.

Karnataka has thus suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1.87 lakh crore since 2017-18, the chief minister said. Accusing the BJP-led central government of a stepmotherly treatment towards the state, he said the Centre was yet to release drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund.

Even the funds announced for the Upper Bhadra project in the 2023-24 Union budget were not released, he added.

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