‘Deeply disappointing for HK region’

By ignoring all major demands that Hyderabad Karnataka region put forward, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has disappointed the region in the budget he presented on Friday. Many sections in the region, including Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HKCCI), have, while welcoming certain proposals, termed the budget as “deeply disappointing for HK region”.

The region expected the setting up of a Ministry and a Secretariat for the implementation of Special Status offered to the region under Article 371(J) of the Constitution, increase in budgetary allocation to Hyderabad Karnataka Regional Development Board (HKRDB) from ₹ 1,500 crore to ₹ 2,000 crore, required funds for land acquisition to initiate the implementation of a National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ), special incentives and tax holiday for start-ups to be established by women entrepreneurs under the SPV Kalaburagi Ladies Association Manufacturing Park (K-Lamp), establishment of Special Economic Zones and an Industrial Corridor of 2,000 acres for industrialisation in the region, classification of dal mills as agro-based industry to attract government incentives and concessional tax rates, rehabilitation package for crumbling dal mills and bringing red gram, the major crop in the region, under the Price Deficiency Payment Scheme. However, all the demands have turned down in the budget.

“NIMZ, a Union government project, sanctioned for Kalaburagi district has been left high and dry. The Chief Minister has announced Tumakuru Industrial Node on an area of 9,629 acres at Tumakuru at an estimated cost of ₹ 50,000 crore capital investment. However, he has not made any budgetary allocation for the acquisition of land for NIMZ. It is a great disappointing factor that we are losing 2.60 lakh job opportunities that are expected to be generated by NIMZ as per the Techno-Economic Feasibility Survey Report,” Amarnath C. Patil, Shashikanth B. Patil and Gurudev Desai, president, secretary and Chairman of the State Taxes Committee of HKCCI, said in a statement.

Though the construction of a 300-bed hospital of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research at a cost of ₹ 150 crore has been announced, no funds are allocated for the purpose. It is proposed to take money from a special grant of ₹ 1,500 crore allocated to HKRDB.

“It is a deeply disappointing budget for the region as none of our expectations has been met,” Ambaraya Ashtagi, vice-president of Kalaburagi Rural district unit of the BJP, said in a release.

Other announcements such as grant of ₹ 150 crore to Kalaburagi under Mahatma Gandhi City Development Programme, operationalisation of Kalaburagi Airport, development of industrial area at Chittapur, development of a new terminal building at Bidar Civil Airport, water filling project for tanks in the limits of Bidar city from the Manjra river, establishing new sports hostels at Yadgir, Ballari and Bidar and inclusion of Raichur district under the Jaladhare Scheme in the first phase for supplying potable water from river sources to all the rural habitats are welcomed.