Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of Karnataka unveiled his 16th Budget, marking a historic moment with the budget allocation surpassing ₹4 lakh crore for the first time. This budget has successfully reduced the revenue deficit from ₹27,354 crore in the previous fiscal year to ₹19,262 crore for 2024-25. A key focus of the budget is the significant financial support directed towards minorities and specific regional groups, alongside a commitment to improving outcomes for women, children, and infrastructure projects.
Siddaramaiah now holds the record for the most budget presentations by any Chief Minister in India, overtaking Kerala’s Thomas Isaac, who presented 12 budgets. His nearly four-hour speech outlined a comprehensive fiscal vision for the state.
The Chief Minister’s extensive experience is noteworthy, as he has presented budgets under the leadership of three different Chief Ministers: his former mentor H.D. Deve Gowda, as well as J.H. Patel and Dharam Singh. During his budget address, he defended the continuation of five guarantee schemes—Gruha Lakshmi, Shakti, Gruha Jyothi, Anna Bhagya, and Yuva Nidhi—emphasizing that these initiatives are not merely “freebies,” but crucial programs designed to empower marginalized communities.
Karnataka’s economic growth has outpaced the national average, achieving a 7.4 percent growth rate in 2024-25. The state aims to attract ₹1 lakh crore in investments and ranks third in foreign direct investments (FDI), having secured $4.4 billion. Additionally, Karnataka led the nation in overall exports, reaching $88.8 billion, which reflects an 11.17 percent increase from the previous year.
To foster economic growth beyond Bengaluru, the government plans to initiate the Local Economy Accelerator Program (LEAP) in 2025, with an initial grant of ₹1,000 crore and an allocation of ₹200 crore for the current fiscal year. This program aims to generate five lakh jobs and establish a startup ecosystem in cities such as Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad, and Kalaburagi. A second phase of the Quantum Research Park will be developed in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru, with a budget of ₹48 crore spread over three years.
The budget also includes targeted financial plans for various minority communities, with ₹100 crore set aside for the development of Jain, Buddhist, and Sikh communities, and ₹250 crore allocated for the Christian community. The honorarium for religious leaders, including Jain priests, Sikh Chief Grantis, and Pesh Imams, has been raised to ₹6,000 per month, while the honorarium for Assistant Grantis and Muezzins is now ₹5,000 per month. Additionally, ₹559 crore has been designated for essential infrastructure in Scheduled Caste (SC) colonies throughout the state.
In healthcare, funding has increased from ₹12,000 crore last year to ₹14,500 crore this year. A total of ₹50,000 crore has been allocated for projects related to roads, urban transport, and rural connectivity. This includes ₹8,916 crore earmarked specifically for Bengaluru’s development and ₹40,000 crore for tunnel road initiatives. The Vijayapura Airport, constructed at a cost of ₹348 crore, is expected to be operational by 2025-26, and the CM provided updates on the ongoing land acquisition process for the Karwar Naval Airport, with necessary funding planned for the current fiscal year.
The industrial sector received a substantial investment boost of ₹10,000 crore. To enhance state revenue, Karnataka has set a revenue collection target of ₹1,20,000 crore for 2025-26, up from ₹1,05,000 crore in 2024-25.
As part of the budgetary changes, the government proposed an amendment to the Professional Tax Act, raising the professional tax for salaried and wage earners from ₹200 to ₹300 for the month of February and aligning it with the annual cap of ₹2,500.
While Congress leaders praised the budget as a strategic plan for Karnataka’s growth and self-sufficiency, the opposition criticized it. R. Ashoka, the Leader of the Opposition, described it as a “makeshift budget,” arguing that the Congress government has put itself in a difficult position, caught between sustaining costly guarantee schemes or withdrawing them. BJP MLA BY Vijayendra characterized it as a “blueprint for appeasement,” claiming that the government neglected essential sectors such as agriculture, rural development, power, irrigation, SC/ST hostels, and youth employment, while prioritizing vote-bank politics over genuine development.
