Rs42,030 crore plan size for Karnataka in 2012-13

The Planning Commission approved `42,030 crore plan size for Karnataka for 2012-13. The commission’s deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who approved the plan size after a meeting with chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda in New Delhi on Wednesday, asked the state government to help improve Bangalore’s infrastructure, considering the city is a global IT hub and is emerging as a leading business centre.

Speaking to reporters, the chief minister requested the commission and the Union government for a special grant for the city’s development. He urged the railways ministry to implement the commuter rail system for the city without delay. “To cope with the massive urbanisation, the rail system should be enabled to de-congest traffic,” he said.

“Karnataka is one of the few states that have consistently realised more resources than what has been budgeted in Five Year Plans. The state is likely to expend `1,14,152 crore against an allocation of `1,01,664 crore in the Eleventh Five Year Plan,” the chief minister said, adding: “The annual plan size of `42,030 crore is an increase of 10.40% over `38,070 crore in 2011-12.”

The chief minister asked the union finance ministry to set the borrowing limit for each state based on its debt handling capacity. He also sought the commission’s intervention for providing environmental clearances and dedicated coal blocks for the proposed thermal plants in the state.