Karnataka Seeks Due Share of Central Grants; DK Shivakumar Urges NITI Aayog to Give State Special Consideration
Bengaluru, September 2: Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar urged NITI Aayog to ensure that Karnataka receives its due share of grants from the Centre, including allocations announced earlier in the Union Budget, while seeking special consideration for the state in view of its contribution to the country and its performance across several development indicators.
Shivakumar made the appeal during a meeting with NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Dr Ashok Kumar Lahiri at the Chief Minister’s home office Krishna on Wednesday.
He said all stakeholders must work together keeping the country’s interests in mind and argued that national development is possible only when states develop. In a federal system, the states and the Union government need to work in cooperation, he said, adding that Karnataka had received an opportunity to hold a separate meeting with NITI Aayog after a long time.
Shivakumar sought all possible assistance from NITI Aayog for Karnataka’s development initiatives.
He said the country has significant expectations from Karnataka and added that the Prime Minister had also referred to this in his remarks. Shivakumar said NITI Aayog had suggested the establishment of a second Bengaluru and that the state would formulate an appropriate plan in line with its expectations.
The state would examine measures taken by other states in this regard and prepare a broader plan on how Karnataka could contribute further to the country’s development, he said. All suggestions made by NITI Aayog would be considered, he added.
Referring to a recent discussion with the Union Home Minister, Shivakumar said he had pointed out that southern states had effectively implemented population-control measures while northern states had not implemented them to the same extent. He said southern states should not face a situation in which they are penalised in the allocation of funds because population is used as a criterion for determining their share.
Shivakumar also recalled former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as having said that when world leaders visit India, they prefer to visit Bengaluru first rather than Delhi. He said he had recently shared this observation with the Prime Minister.
The Chief Minister said Karnataka is among the country’s leading states on indicators including gross state domestic product, per capita income, human resources, technology and innovation, foreign direct investment, exports, startups and information technology services.
He said Karnataka has some of the country’s highest-quality human resources and produces 1.6 lakh engineers and around 13,000 doctors every year. Bengaluru has 26 lakh IT professionals, he said.
Shivakumar said Bengaluru’s population continues to rise, with increasing numbers of people from across the country moving to the city. These factors are adding pressure on Bengaluru, he said, adding that several major projects have been formulated to improve the city’s infrastructure and are under implementation.
He said Karnataka’s agriculture sector is also growing and that the state has the second-highest extent of dry land after Rajasthan. In view of these factors, he urged NITI Aayog to give Karnataka special consideration.
Shivakumar said the government has implemented five guarantee schemes for public welfare and is providing more than ₹50,000 crore annually for them. The state is also spending ₹20,000 crore every year to provide free electricity subsidy to farmers, he said.
He said plans have been prepared for the development of government schools, with the objective of providing quality education at the rural level.
The Chief Minister said the government has started a new Prajaseva department to ensure effective delivery of government services to citizens. The objective is to ensure that government schemes reach all people and that citizens can access services easily, he said.
He also announced that a separate foreign investment department would be established to assist foreign investors.
Shivakumar said the government has prepared plans to develop tourism in the state and has formulated a coastal tourism policy, which will be placed before the next Cabinet meeting for approval.
He said the government has implemented the Bhoomi Guarantee scheme by digitising all land records. Karnataka has played an important role in the country’s development, and NITI Aayog should extend all possible assistance for these initiatives and their implementation, he said.
Officials at the meeting said Karnataka’s Gross State Domestic Product for 2025-26 stood at ₹32.81 lakh crore, with GSDP growth of 8.1%. The services sector accounted for 70% of the GSDP, industry for 19% and agriculture for 11%, they said.
NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri said he was proud of Karnataka’s development and called for serious consideration of developing a second Bengaluru to reduce pressure on the existing city.
Lahiri said Karnataka has the capacity to grow rapidly and reiterated that the country can grow and develop only when states grow. He also noted the high proportion of dry land in Karnataka and said a plan should be formulated to increase production from dryland areas.
Minister Priyank Kharge, Chief Secretary Dr Shalini Rajneesh, Chief Minister’s Economic Adviser L.K. Ateeq, Political Secretary A.S. Ponnanna, Development Commissioner Uma Mahadevan, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Tushar Giri Nath and other officials were present at the meeting.
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