"Inclusive...exposed previous govt's lapses": Min MB Patil on Karnataka Budget 2023

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 7 : Karnataka Large and Medium Industries minister MB Patil on Friday termed the state Budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as an inclusive one and said that it also exposed the lapses and fiscal indiscipline of the previous BJP's tenure.

The state minister said that the budget focuses on the welfare of all sections of society including women, farmers, marginalised communities, and minorities. "The budget has also exposed the lapses and fiscal indiscipline of the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s tenure," he said.

"Our government has walked the talk about the implementation of assured five guarantees and has provided Rs 52,000 crore for these programmes in the budget, he added

The minister asserted that CM Siddaramaiah knows how to generate revenue.

Lashing out at the BJP, he said, "The BJP which is rejected by the people has been further frustrated by seeing our budget."

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, on Friday presented the state Budget for 2023-24.

The Congress government which recently came to power in the southern state has increased the Budget size from Rs 265,720 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 327,747 crore in 2023-24, a Rs 62,027 crore increase with a growth rate of 23 per cent.

Of the total expenditure, revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs 2,50,933 crore and capital expenditure at Rs 54,374 crore, an increase of 23 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively.

This is Siddaramaiah's seventh Budget as a Chief Minister, having presented six during his tenure as Karnataka CM from 2013 to 2018.

The state government termed this Budget to be their 'Guarantee Budget' and asserted that it fulfils all the five key promises it made to the people ahead of the Assembly polls. For the implementation of those pre-poll promises, a total of Rs 35,410 crore has been allocated in today's Budget.

"Equal distribution of wealth among all sections of the society is as important as attracting capital investment and creating more employment for the economic progress of the state. Hence, our Government is implementing these guarantee schemes, which are not just the freebies provided to the people but are necessities to distribute the fruits of economic development among poor and the depressed," a press release from the CMO said.