Karnataka Budget 2008-09 (What NK people will get out of this budget)

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/DeccanHerald.com/Content/Jul172008/state2008071779340.asp?section=updatenews

Here I have listed the highlights of the Karnataka Budget 2008-09 (From NK prospective)

1. To develop 7 major cities in the state, a special grant of Rs.700 crores is proposed. This year an allocation of total Rs.350 crores, at the rate of Rs.50 crores per city is made. Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum, Gulbarga, Davangere, Bellary, Mysore and mangalore will be benifited.
2. To implement the drinking water supply augmentation project in Hubli-Dharward, Rs.136 crores is allocated.
3. A financial support of Rs.50 crores is provided to the North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation for improving transport facilities in rural areas.
4. 700 acres of land will be acquired for developing an international airport at Hubli city. The airport at Belgaum will also be expanded by acquiring 370 acres of land.
5. There are some of the Railway projects that will be executed.
   Shimoga-Talaguppa Guage conversion. Bidar-Gulbarga new rail line. Sholapur-Bagalkot-Gadag Gauge conversion. Bangalore-Ramanagaram line doubling. Commerce and Industries
6. Proposed major industrial corridors with 8 lane roads are:
   Bidar-Bangalore via Chitradurga
   Tumkur-Honnavar via Shimoga
   Chitradurga-Mangalore via Shimoga-Udupi
   Bangalore-Belgaum via Davengare-Hubli.
7. A provision of Rs.25 crores has been made for organizing Vishva Kannada Sammelana at Belgaum in December.
8. Preparations are being made to start Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belgaum and hold an assembly session.
9. Financial assistance of Rs.One crores for development of Sangolli Rayanna Memorial at Belgaum.
10. Financial assistance of Rs.One crore for the development of Bada village in Haveri district – birth place of Kanakadasa.
11. Financial assistance of Rs. One crores for Shivayogi Shishunala Sharief’s shrine.
12. Financial assistance of Rs. One crores for development of Vignaneshwara Park and Rangamandira at Marthur, Gulbarga district.
13. To commemorate the tricentenary of the founding of the Khalsa by Sri Guru Govind Singh, a festival is being held at Nanded. An allocation of Rs.25 crores has been made for improving infrastructure in Bidar city and for providing amenities to the pilgrims.
14. A task force will be set up for protecting the bio-diversity and conserving the environment of Western Ghats.
15. Similarly work will be speeded up for construction of Kalasa Banduri Canal for supply of drinking water to Hubli-Dharwad.
16. For setting up drug testing laboratories in Hubli and Bellary in the north Karnataka region an amount of Rs.5 crores has been provided.
17. For the development of famous KIMS hospital in Hubli Rs.36.5 crores has been provided. This will help a large number of poor people in the north Karnataka
18. For improving water supply and sanitation in cities other than Bangalore, the outlay for Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board has been increased from Rs. 231 crores to Rs. 380 crores. A scheme for augmenting water supply to Hubli-Dharwad at a cost of Rs.136 crores will be undertaken during the current year.
19. For the development of second tier cities such as Mysore, Mangalore, Belgaum, Hubli-Dharwad, Davanagere, Bellary and Gulbarga it is proposed to provide Rs.100 crores each to the municipal bodies of these cities over a period of two years. During this year, upto Rs.50 crores each will be given to these municipal bodies for specific projects.
20. The Government is determined to develop industry and tourism in all parts of the state. In this connection Rs.150 crores is being provided to develop airports in the year 2008-09. Necessary land is being acquired to upgrade Hubli airport to international standard, and to expand Belgaum and Mangalore airports, Steps are being taken to acquire additional land for the development of Mysore airport. Similarly the airports at Bijapur, Gulbarga, Shimoga and Hassan will be developed on public-private-partnership basis, To give impetus to tourism in the state, it is proposed to spend Rs.40 crores to develop 10 air strips at the cost of Rs.4 crores each in various districts which do not have airports.
21. An IT – BT zone will be established in Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum, Shimoga and Gulbarga.* Ramanagara, Shimoga and Hubli-Dharwad will be earmarked for automobile zone, and a garment zone will be established in Bangalore Rural, Tumkur, Kolar, Mandya, Belgaum, Bidar, Dharwad and other districts. For the above purposes Rs.500 Crores will be spent by KIADB during the year 2008-09.
22. It is proposed to set up IT and BT parks in cities like Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum, Gulbarga, Shimoga, Davangere, Mangalore through joint ventures of private participation and Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board. KEONICS will be provided with a capital contribution of Rs.10 Crores to promote the above development.