KHB to develop 16,000 sites in Suryanagar Phase-4; Helpline for co-op society investors

BENGALURU: The Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) will develop a total of 16,140 plots in Suryanagar Phase-IV Scheme in Anekal taluk of Bengaluru Urban district in 2025-26. These sites will be distributed to the landowners on 50:50 basis and the remaining will be distributed to the public at affordable rates, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Friday.

Presenting his 16th budget in the Assembly, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the details of all registered housing cooperative societies of the state will be made online through the Karnataka State Co-operative Housing Federation. A helpline will be started to protect depositors’ interest and prevent malpractices.

In view of the increasing traffic congestion in Bengaluru, the government has proposed to establish a new satellite APMC market on the outskirts of the city. The Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee will establish an international standard hi-tech flower market in Chikkaballapur and a modern market at KGF through public-private partnership.

For the benefit of goatherds and shepherds, a well-equipped goat and sheep market will be established in Bengaluru. The government also plans to establish a sheep and goat market at Budugumpa village in Koppal district with necessary basic facilities through KKRDB funds at a cost of Rs 25 crore.

A new mega dairy will be established in Kalaburgi to encourage dairy farming in Kalyana Karnataka region with an allocation of Rs 50 crore from the KKRDB. A grant of Rs 10 crore will be provided in the first phase.

“Interest waiver scheme on medium-and long-term loans of DCC and PCARD banks was announced in the Belagavi session of 2023-24. Under this scheme Rs 240 crore interest on the loans has been waived. So far, 700 network hospitals have registered under the Yashaswini Scheme so far and 59,000 beneficiaries across the state have received treatment in these hospitals at a cost of Rs 103 crore”, the CM said.

Further, he said the state government will provide an additional Rs 450 over and above the Rs 7,550 per quintal under the Minimum Support Price scheme for procurement of tur dal with a total expenditure of Rs 138 crore. This will benefit farmers of major tur dal-growing districts of Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadagir, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Raichur, Koppal, Kolar, Chitradurga and Chikkaballapur.

The CM said the financial assistance given in lieu of additional 5 kg rice under the Anna Bhagya Scheme will be replaced with 5 kg additional rice. This will provide additional rice to 4.21 crore beneficiaries. The ‘Anna Suvidha’ scheme, implemented last year for home delivery of food grains to households with only senior citizens above 80 years, will be extended to include households with only senior citizens above 75 years of age in the present year and 3.30 lakh beneficiaries will benefit from this initiative, the CM noted.

Skill Development

The Chief Minister’s Kaushalya Karnataka Yojane (CMKKY) launched during the previous term, will be launched with revised guidelines (CMKKY 2.0) to further boost employability and entrepreneurial opportunities for the youth in the State.

Under this scheme, along with the traditional skill development activities, German, Italian, Spanish and other foreign language skill training will be given to nursing students of the state; An international job fair will be organised in Bengaluru through International Migration Centre to facilitate job opportunities in foreign countries; provide necessary guidance to students in choosing the right career.

Indira Canteens will be maintained by women self-help societies of the National Livelihood Mission in 10 urban areas on a pilot basis and ‘Akka cafe and canteen’ will be established in district and taluk Panchayat office premises.

Kannada and Culture

A Nrutyotsava programme will be held during the Chalukya Utsava, in the famous historical and heritage town of Badami in Bagalakot district at a cost of Rs 2 crore. In-principle approval has been given to establish an International Basava Philosophical and Research Centre in Bengaluru. An expert committee will be formed and action on this will be taken after obtaining a detailed report.

Introduction to the lives of great achievers in various fields and women achievers will be brought out as a book series by name ‘Kannada Bharati’ and Rs 50 lakh will be allocated for this programme. Professional theatre Rangayana, established at Kondajji Betta premises in Davanagere, will get infrastructure upgradation, construction of professional theatre Rangayana complex and museum theatre at a cost of Rs.3 crore.

Monthly pension paid to artists in the fields of art, literature and culture will be increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500. Grant of Rs 2 crore will be provided for constructing a memorial for Seva Dal founder, freedom fighter and Padma Bhushan Dr N S Hardikar at Arogyadhama in Ghataprabha in Belagavi district.

The digitalization of 2,500 ancient palm leaf manuscripts aty tje Kuvempu Kannada Study Institute housed in Mysuru University will be taken up at a grant of Rs 1 crore and a grant of Rs. 2 crore will be provided for the activities of Mysuru Rangayana.

Tourism

The Sri Renuka Yallamma Temple, one of the major religious centres of the state, and Devika Rani Roerich Estate will be developed under the Special Capital Assistance Scheme, with a total expenditure of Rs. 199 crore. Tourist destinations in 10 select districts of the state will be developed at a cost of Rs 50 crore in the year 2025-26.

Promotion of educational, health, adventure, environmental, water sports and coastal tourism in the state will be done through coastal development and upgradation of wayside amenities (Highway Hubs) in the districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada.

Basic infrastructure at UNESCO World Heritage places of Belur, Halebidu and Somanathpura will be developed with upgraded facilities. Pravasi Mitras working at tourist spots will be trained for the safety of tourists and their numbers will be increased to 1,000. A 24X7 helpline will also be made operational for providing information to tourists.

For development of essential infrastructure for conservation of important monuments of the state, the government plans to give more monuments for adoption under Namma Smaraka Digital Forum. The old DC office (Athara Kacheri) building of Mysuru will be converted into a state-level museum to showcase the state’s culture, beginning of civilization, historical and social milestones.

Youth Empowerment and Sports

A District Stadium will be constructed in 20 acres of land in Adinarayana Hosahalli, Bengaluru Rural district, and a modern cycling velodrome will be constructed with the cost of Rs 5 crore to encourage the sport of cycling. A total of Rs 6 crore will be provided for the development of district stadiums in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts at the cost of Rs 3 crore each.

Shooting ranges will be constructed in district stadiums of 4 division headquarters of the state in the next three years at a total cost of Rs. 3 crore. Rural sports like Kambala, bullock cart race and Mallakhambha will be encouraged. Sports meets will be organized for the most backward forest-dwelling tribes every year. A total of Rs.2 crore will be provided as separate grant for this purpose.

Two new Sports Science Centres will be set up at Mysuru and Belagavi at a cost of Rs 7 crore. The swimming pool in Vidyanagar of Bengaluru will be upgraded to international standards by providing heating and diving pool facilities. An Olympic standard (50 meter) swimming pool will be constructed in Chamarajnagar at a cost of Rs 2 crore.

Pension given to the retired international level wrestlers will be increased to Rs 6,000 to Rs.5,000 for national level
wrestlers and to Rs 4,500 for the state level wrestlers.

Forest, Ecology and Environment

Under various programmes 213 lakh plants in 28,494-hectare forest area and 3.50 lakh plants in 1,200 hectare non-forest area will be grown and plantations will be maintained to increase the green cover.

In order to mitigate the effects of climate change, Karnataka Forest, Wildlife and Climate Change Mitigation Foundation (KFWCCMF) will be constituted in collaboration with environmentally conscious corporate bodies and social reformers. This will facilitate environmental development through CSR contributions and donations.

The ‘Karnataka State Integrated Climate Change Action Plan’ will be implemented in the current year to mitigate the risks of climate change and for sustainable development. The ex-gratia relief for loss of human life due to wild animal attack will be increased from Rs15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.

To prevent man-elephant conflict 392 km of railway barricades have been constructed since 2015. An additional 150 km railway barricade works will be taken up in the next two years and Rs 60 crore has been set aside for the year 2025-26. To address the man-elephant conflict in Karnataka effectively, a grant of Rs 20 crore will be provided to establish a ‘Wild-elephant Soft Release Centre’ in a 20 sq km area within the Bhadra Tiger Reserve.

The working of 3,000 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in Bengaluru will be monitored using technology and the data will be made available to the public on a daily basis. In order to simplify the burden of environmental regulatory compliance on industries, self-certification based automated renewals will be provided.

Revenue

It is envisaged to start E-Pauti mission from this year to register the names of legal heirs in land records which have been identified as ‘dead’ during Aadhaar seeding with pahani. E-Jamabandi software will be developed and implemented from this year to speeden up the Jamabandi process of reconciling and streamlining the village and taluk level land records.

A new land revenue act will be enacted after a comprehensive study to provide more clarity for effective implementation at field level. Steps will be taken to complete the ongoing work of the construction of ‘Anubhava Mantapa’ by Basavakalyan Development Board at the earliest.

Flood management system will be taken up in BBMP area at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore. Construction of waste water treatment plant and sewage pumping system will be taken up by BWSSB at a total cost of R. 1,070 crore. Rebuilding of storm water drains and rejuvenation of lakes in Bengaluru city will be taken up at a cost of Rs. 239 crore.

Endowment

Encroachment of 328 temples of the state will be removed to protect their assets. Further, under ‘Bhu-Varaha’ scheme, the immovable assets of these temples will be documented. The annual tasdiq amount paid to the archakas of 25,551 religious institutions/ temples under the Endowment Department will be increased from Rs 60,000 to Rs 72,000.

The Karnataka Temples Accommodation Cell will be established to provide basic facilities to pilgrims and to provide for reservation and maintenance of 3,500 rooms in 400 major temples within the state and state choultries outside the state.

Information and Public Relations

Cinema Sector will be given the status of an industry and the facilities provided under the Industrial Policy will be extended to the cinema industry by the government. A multiplex movie theatre complex will be developed under Public Private Partnership (PPP) in 2.5 acre land owned by the Karnataka Film Academy at Nandini Layout in Bengaluru.

The cost of the ticket of each show in all theatres of the state including multiplexes will be capped at Rs 200. An OTT platform will be created in the state to promote Kannada movies. For developing an international-level Film City in Mysuru at the cost of Rs. 500 crore in PPP model, 150 acre land has been transferred to Department of Information and Public relations.

Home

The Bengaluru Safe City project has been implemented at a cost of Rs. 667 crore. As part of the project 7,500 cameras have been installed across Bengaluru, 10 drones and 560 body-worn cameras have been provided. A total of 60 women outposts have been set up across the city to foster a public sense of security among women and ensure prompt police assistance for women and children who are victims of crime.

Zero tolerance policy has been adopted against those who disrupt social harmony and strict and decisive action is being taken. With an aim to increase the mobility, Rs50 crore will be allocated under the Police Mobility Scheme for the procurement of 1,000 new vehicles, benefiting all departments under the Home Department.

For effective policing of Bengaluru city, the number of police divisions will be increased from eight to 11. There are five bomb detection and disposal squads working at present and four more bomb detection and disposal squads will be set up at Ballari, Davanagere, Mysuru and Bengaluru Central Zones during this year.

Transport

The Bengaluru Majestic bus stand will be redeveloped under Project Majestic scheme under the public-private partnership model. It is envisaged to construct a transport hub consisting of a commercial complex.

Construction of 42 Automated Test Driving Tracks which are in progress across the state will be completed during this year. During 2025-26, Automated Test Driving Tracks will be built at a cost of Rs 20 crore at Honnavar, Chamarajanagar and Chitradurga and Rs.12 crore will be provided for this purpose in the financial year.

With a view to monitor vehicular traffic and to detect and control cases of violation of traffic rules, AI-enabled electronic cameras will be installed at 60 places in Davanagere, Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Belagavi, Chitradurga, Haveri, Hosapete, Bellari, Vijayapura and Dakshina Kannada districts at the cost of Rs 50 crore.

During 2025-26, priority is being given for the induction of e-buses in the interest of a clean environment and it is aimed to induct 14,750 new electric vehicles under PM e-DRIVE, PM-eBus Sewa and Externally Aided Projects, out of which 9,000 buses will be provided to BMTC. Additionally, 1,000 new diesel buses will be inducted across different transport corporations of the State under the Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model.

To facilitate smooth traffic for the public and to enhance basic infrastructure amongst the transport corporations, a new satellite bus stand will be constructed at K R Puram in Bengaluru East zone on public private partnership model. A state-of-the-art bus stand will be built at Bannimantap in Mysuru at a total cost of Rs 120 crore.

Professional tax

It is proposed to make suitable amendment to the Professional Tax Act, to increase the Professional Tax payable by salary and wages earners from Rs 200 to Rs 300 for the month of February to align with the maximum limit permissible of Rs 2,500 per annum.