Declaring that he will not discriminate against States ruled by the Opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Karnataka would get a Central share of tax revenues to the tune of Rs. 1.83 lakh crore in the next five years, as against the previous five years’ allocation of Rs. 61,600 crore.
He was addressing a public meeting at the Basavanagudi National College grounds in Bengaluru after completion of the first day’s session of the BJP’s national executive meet. Mr. Modi recalled that the 13th Finance Commission had increased the allocation to Karnataka to Rs. 24,800 crore from the previous year’s Rs. 14,600 crore. “All you got in the last 60 years was only Rs. 14,600 crore. But in just one year, you got nearly Rs. 25,000 crore,” he remarked.
He reiterated that he would abide by the concept of co-operative federalism in letter and spirit, by considering States as partners in development.
Mr. Modi hailed the IT professionals of Bengaluru by observing that they had done the country proud by creating a name in the software sector around the world. His government’s concept of digital India would help provide impetus to taking IT to grassroots levels, the Prime Minister noted.
He said the government’s plans to make rapid strides in mobile governance would not only boost good governance through quick delivery of service, but also create more job opportunities and potential for entrepreneurship for IT professionals.
