CM Siddaramaiah to present fresh state budget on July 7

DAVANAGERE: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will present a fresh state Budget for the year 2023-24 on July 7.

Speaking to the media persons at MBA College Ground on Monday, Siddaramaiah said, “We have not yet decided in the Cabinet for how many days the Budget Session will last. But the budget session will start on July 3”.

He informed that there will be a discussion with the Governor and the budget will be presented on July 7. “We will discuss the size of the budget. The current budget presented by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was of Rs 3,09,785 crore ahead of the election. We will fulfill the promises made in our election manifesto after the budget”.

“We have instructed all the district administration officers, CEOs to be prepare to face flooding during monsoon. I have instructed them to make sure that there is no shortage of fertilizers, seeds, pesticides”, CM added.

Reacting to the revoking the Prevention of Cow slaughter Act, 1964, the CM said, “We will discuss it in the Cabinet. The 1964 Act allows slaughter of 12-year-old, barren, non-farming cattle. But Minister Venkatesh conveyed it wrongly. We have not taken any decision in the cabinet regarding this”.

To a query on BJP holding protest against the power tariff hike, Siddaramaiah defended that it was already ordered by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KEC). “It was not by the state government. Henceforth, power tariff will not increase anymore”, he said.