New Delhi, Oct 24 Union Minister for Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Pralhad Joshi stated that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the NDA government has granted over 273 per cent more funds to Karnataka than what the UPA government had given.
“Yet, the state government does not acknowledge this,” the Union Minister claimed while addressing a press conference in Delhi on Friday.
The minister rejected the allegation that the central government was discriminating against Karnataka in the release of grants, calling the claim far from the truth.
He claimed that the 15th Finance Commission had made a few recommendations regarding grants to Karnataka.
“However, its final report did not include two of those recommendations. Hence, no special grant has been released by the Centre,” he said.
Joshi also claimed that the state government is misleading the people without understanding this fact.
He asserted that the PM Modi-led NDA government has given more than double the grants compared to the previous UPA government.
“The 15th Finance Commission had initially recommended certain specific measures for Karnataka. Among them was a suggestion to provide a special grant of Rs 5,495 crore to offset the reduction in the tax devolution share, which was 4.71 per cent during the 14th Finance Commission period and reduced to 3.64 per cent under the 15th Finance Commission,” he said.
He said that, however, the final report of the 15th Finance Commission did not include this proposal, and therefore, the Centre did not release any such special grant, the minister explained.
“During the 10 years from 2004 to 2014, the UPA government provided Rs 81,795 crore to Karnataka as tax devolution grants. But between 2014 and 2024, the NDA government released a total of Rs 2.93 lakh crore, which is over 273 per cent higher than under the UPA,” he claimed.
Joshi said that in the current financial year alone, Karnataka has received Rs 51,876 crore, and in the last 11 years, the state has been given a total of Rs 3.45 lakh crore in tax devolution grants.
“Between 2004 and 2014, the UPA government had allocated Rs 60,000 crore to Karnataka in subsidy-related grants. In contrast, the NDA government from 2014 to 2024 has provided Rs 2.39 lakh crore— an increase of over 290 per cent. For the 2025–26 financial year, the Centre has allocated Rs 16,000 crore, bringing the total subsidy-related grants over 11 years to Rs 2.56 lakh crore,” he claimed.
He also mentioned that since 202021, the Centre has provided Rs 14,641 crore to Karnataka as interest-free loans for 50 years, with the entire interest burden borne by the central government.
The minister claimed that the central government always “releases funds” to states strictly in accordance with Finance Commission recommendations.
“Under the 12th Finance Commission (2005–2010), the share of tax devolution was 30.5 per cent; under the 13th Finance Commission (2010–2015), it was 32 per cent; Under the 14th Finance Commission (2015–2020), it rose to 42 per cent, and under the 15th Finance Commission (2020–2026), it stands at 41 per cent,” he claimed.
He also claimed that the 1 per cent reduction was due to the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.
Joshi further claimed that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the NDA government has consistently provided over 10 per cent more funds compared to all previous periods.
“Yet, the Congress-led Karnataka government continues to claim that the Centre owes the state Rs 11,495 crore as per the 15th Finance Commission’s recommendations, which is untrue and misleading,” the minister claimed.
He accused the state government of concealing the real facts and wrongly blaming the Centre, asserting that such behaviour is unacceptable.
--IANS
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