The demand was made by chief minister BS Yeddyurappa during the inaugural day of the two-day regional consultation of the Planning Commission.
Karnataka has demanded that the Centre allocate special funds and provide assistance for the development of Bangalore's infrastructure.
The demand was made by chief minister BS Yeddyurappa during the inaugural day of the two-day regional consultation of the Planning Commission with southern states on the approach paper to the 12th Plan on Friday.
Stating that more funding should come from the Centre and the approach paper for the plan should address this issue, the chief minister said, “State governments have had to invest heavily in the infrastructure of IT-growth cities without receiving assistance from the Centre. Individual states do not even get incentives for IT-led exports which have registered a phenomenal growth in the recent past. We are of the strong opinion that cities such as Bangalore which have made ‘brand India’ universally recognised and contributed $14 billion to the country’s export earnings must receive substantive assistance from the Centre for infrastructure development.”
Yeddyurappa also suggested that the state government be provided larger powers in executing major infrastructure projects like the metro rail.
Currently, the Metro Railway Construction of Work Act 1978 and Metro Railway Operation and Maintenance Act 2002 have no role at all for the respective state governments and in effect, it has taken away the development of metro from the purview of the states, he said.
“Decisions on the construction of Metro within the municipal area, operation and maintenance of metro, regulation of activity like fare fixation, claim settlements (regulation through institution) must be assigned to the state government along with the formulation if rules,” said Yeddyurappa.
The chief minister also said that the Railways should be persuaded to take up commuter rail projects in partnership with the state government on a cost sharing basis.
“A commuter rail project in the city can provide the much-needed connectivity on the north-south and east-west access to existing surface lines in Bangalore. The project is designed to integrate with the road transport and metro project. Further, the railways must be persuaded to finalise the private participating policy as in the case of airports, ports and highways,” he said.
The chief minister also said that the state government, in association with the Centre, was implementing the high speed rail link project along the road to the Bengaluru International Airport.
On the Goods and Service Tax (GST), he said that the uncertainties arising out of the impact of GST on the states’ resources for the plan financing was a major concern. “The assurance given by the Centre regarding compensation for a limited period is welcome. However, the finally selected GST rate should not compromise the ability of the states like Karnataka with high tax effort,” said Yeddyurappa.
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