Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has expressed disappointment with the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday for giving “an empty pot” to Karnataka.

Addressing a press conference in Mysuru, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the State had put forth a list of demands ahead of the Budget, but the Centre had summarily set them aside even though Karnataka is “No. 2” among the highest tax contributing States in the country.

While the Union Budget has focussed on Bihar and Andhra Pradesh for the second successive year in view of the “political compulsions” of the BJP government at the Centre, no funds had been allocated to any of Karnataka’s projects viz. Mekedatu, Upper Bhadra project, Mahadayi, and Upper Krishna projects, he lamented.

Upper Bhadra project

He recalled the announcement made by Ms. Sitharaman in last year’s Budget to set aside ₹5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra project in the State. Neither was any fund released by the Centre for the project nor was there any mention about it in the Budget proposals for 2025-26 presented on Saturday, he said.

Even though the extent of dryland in Karnataka is next only to Rajasthan in the country, there was no mention about any irrigation project for the State.

No AIIMS for Raichur

Mr. Siddaramaiah said he had expected the Centre to announce an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for Raichur, particularly after Union Minister for Health J.P. Nadda had made an assurance. But, the Budget makes no mention about it, he said.

The Union Budget had also completely neglected the State’s demand for financial assistance for drinking projects in urban areas and rural areas, besides roads and railways. Similarly, the demand for funds for basic amenities in Bengaluru like storm water drains and creating a business corridor had been ignored.

The Centre has rejected the State’s request to increase honorarium for anganwadi and ASHAs, Mr. Siddaramaiah said. The State’s demand for increasing central allocation for beneficiaries of housing projects in urban areas from ₹1.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh and in rural areas from ₹72,000 to ₹3 lakh had been ignored.

Failure of BJP MPs

Mr. Siddaramaiah said the State had suffered injustice from the Centre on account of the failure of the Union Ministers and BJP MPs from the State to muster courage and demand Karnataka’s rightful share.

He said there have been no instance of any Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, V. Somanna, H.D. Kumaraswamy, or Shobha Karandlaje, demanding justice for Karnataka.

Even though injustice in allocation of funds from the Centre had been brought to the notice of BJP MPs from Karnataka, including Ms. Sitharaman, who has been incidentally elected to Rajya Sabha from the State, has not yielded any result, he lamented.