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Karnataka faces financial crunch as debt zooms 255% in fiscal 2018-19

News Network
September 23, 2020
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Kumaraswamy

Bengaluru, Sep 23: Karnataka is facing a financial crunch, evident from a record 255 per cent increase in its net debt for fiscal 2018-19, an official said on Wednesday while citing a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report.

"In its state finance audit report, the CAG red-flagged that Karnataka's net debt was Rs 17,766 crore in 2018-19 financial year, a whopping increase of 255 per cent over the 2017-18 fiscal," said the report, which was tabled in the state legislature on Tuesday.

A 6-day Monsoon Session of the legislature began on Monday after it was delayed due to the Covid-induced lockdown and surging virus cases across the southern state.

To meet the growing expenditure, the previous Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S)-Congress coalition government borrowed heavily -- 55 per cent of the debt from the open market, 27 per cent from public account, 6 per cent from national social security fund and 5 per cent from the central government.

A fractured verdict in the May 2018 Assembly elections forced the outgoing Congress to ally with the JD-S to form the coalition government, with HD Kumaraswamy appointed the Chief Minister on May 23, 2018.

The resignation by 17 rebel legislators, including 14 from the Congress and 3 from the JD-S in July 2019, however, led to the fall of the 14-month-old coalition government on July 26, 2019 after Kumaraswamy lost the trust vote in the Assembly for want of a simple majority.

Holding the finance portfolio, Kumaraswamy presented two Budgets in July 2018 for fiscal 2018-19 and February 2019 for fiscal 2019-20.

The CAG found that an expenditure of Rs 2,901 crore was wrongly classified by oversight, while the supplementary provision of Rs 1,319 crore was unwarranted.

"The total provision for the fiscal under review was Rs 2.45 lakh crore and expenditure Rs 2.2 lakh crore, while Rs 25,139 crore remained unspent," said the report.

Reappropriation of funds in 27 cases was not judicious, resulting in excess provision.

Noting that the Supplementary Budget was also not properly assessed to be fiscally neutral, the report said it failed to curtail expenditure.

The report advised the BJP government to ensure adjustment of abstract contingent bills in the stipulated time.

"The tax revenue growth rate decreased to 11.13 per cent in 2018-19 from 12.1 per cent in 2014-15," the report added.

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News Network
January 23,2026

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot read only three lines from the 122-paragraph address prepared by the Congress-led state government while addressing the joint session of the Legislature on Thursday, effectively bypassing large sections critical of the BJP-led Union government.

The omitted portions of the customary Governor’s address outlined what the state government described as a “suppressive situation in economic and policy matters” under India’s federal framework. The speech also sharply criticised the Centre’s move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, commonly referred to as the VB-GRAM (G) Act.

Governor Gehlot had earlier conveyed his objection to several paragraphs that were explicitly critical of the Union government. On Thursday, he confined himself to the opening lines — “I extend a warm welcome to all of you to the joint session of the State legislature. I am extremely pleased to address this august House” — before jumping directly to the concluding sentence of the final paragraph.

He ended the address by reading the last line of paragraph 122: “Overall, my government is firmly committed to doubling the pace of the State’s economic, social and physical development. Jai Hind — Jai Karnataka.”

According to the prepared speech, the Karnataka government demanded the scrapping of the VB-GRAM (G) Act, describing it as “contractor-centric” and detrimental to rural livelihoods, and called for the full restoration of MGNREGA. The state government argued that the new law undermines decentralisation, weakens labour protections, and centralises decision-making in violation of constitutional norms.

Key points from the unread sections of the speech:

•    Karnataka facing a “suppressive” economic and policy environment within the federal system

•    Repeal of MGNREGA described as a blow to rural livelihoods

•    VB-GRAM (G) Act accused of protecting corporate and contractor interests

•    New law alleged to weaken decentralised governance

•    Decision-making said to be imposed by the Centre without consulting states

•    Rights of Adivasis, women, backward classes and agrarian communities curtailed

•    Labourers allegedly placed under contractor control

•    States facing mounting fiscal stress due to central policies

•    VB-GRAM (G) Act accused of enabling large-scale corruption

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