When compared with previous years, Bengaluru seems to have been given short shrift in the 2018–19 State Budget proposals made on Friday. Only ₹2,500 crore has been earmarked for the city, a 58.9% drop from the allocation made in the previous year.
The State government had announced a special package of ₹7,300 crore for the city for 2016–17 and 2017–18, with ₹3,650 crore for each fiscal year. Additionally, ₹2,441 crore was allocated for new schemes in 2017–18, taking the total allocation to ₹6,091 crore.
In his budget speech on Friday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reiterated the government’s “commitment to comprehensive development” of the city. Preparation of an action plan with development work for ₹2,500 crore would be taken up this year, along with the spillover works worth ₹2,441 crore announced last year, he said.
Some of the works include white topping of 150 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads; development of 40 lakes by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and 70 lakes by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA); development of 100 km of major roads in city limits and those in 110 villages in the BBMP limits; construction of grade separators in eight major traffic junctions to ease vehicular movement; and development of 150 km of major storm-water drains and 250 km of footpaths.
Among the key projects is the proposed development of 14 roads that will provide alternative connectivity to ITPL. This will mitigate the inconvenience caused by Namma Metro work being carried out in Whitefield, apart from the construction of NAL–Wind Tunnel Road.
Smart City
A special purpose vehicle (SPV) has been set up for the implementation of projects under the Smart City initiative. An action plan has been finalised considering a Central grant and the State’s expenditure of ₹500 crore each.
“Though the allocation for the city may be less this year, the government has committed to spending over ₹12,000 crore over the past two years and the coming fiscal, most of which is yet to be spent. The overall thrust of spending is on roads and environment, which is welcome. Appointing a pourakarmika to the BBMP council is a very good move, as it includes their voice in decision making,” said V. Ravichandar, member, BBMP Restructuring Committee.
However, D.S. Rajashekhar from the Citizens’ Action Forum maintained that the budget was just an “election-year gimmick”.
“The citizens will be deprived of projects that have been announced, as most of them are likely to remain on paper. The government has not committed to a timeline of when the projects will actually translate into work on ground,” Mr. Rajashekhar said.
The budget also has a proposal to waive the penalty if manufacturing units in industrial areas pay the principal property tax before September 2018 in a single instalment. This is aimed at resolving many property tax litigations concerning tech parks and industries in Bengaluru.
Metro phase III to have 105.55-km network
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced in his budget speech on Friday that the State government would take steps to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for Namma Metro Phase III which will have a 105.55-km network. The alignment of the proposed network includes lines from J.P. Nagar to K.R. Puram via Hebbal; Toll gate to Kadabagere; Gottigere to Basavapura; R.K. Hegde Nagar to Aerospace Park; Kogilu Cross to Rajanakunte; Bommasandra to Attibele, and Iblur to Carmelaram.With this, the total length of the metro network including all the phases will be 266 km.
There is no new allocation for the suburban rail project. The Chief Minister pointed out that last year his government had provided ₹280 crore, which accounted for 80% of the plan expenditure to convert conventional coaches into MEMU trains. “We have decided to start the special purpose vehicle (SPV) for Bengaluru suburban rail project jointly with the Railways. To implement phase I at a planned expenditure of ₹1,745 crore, we have sanctioned ₹349 crore towards the SPV equity,” the Chief Minister said in his budget speech.
