Karnataka expects to earn Rs 10,500 crore in motor vehicle taxes in 2023-24. The target, stipulated by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the 2022-23 budget, is considerably higher than Rs 8,007 crore, which was set last year and has been overachieved by 12%.
The national highway network in Karnataka will increase by 3,084 km at a cost of Rs 1.20 lakh crore. The 411-km Bidar-Kalaburagi-Ballari Road will be developed into four lanes at a cost of Rs 7,650 crore.
The government will construct 1,700 km of state highways at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore under the State Road Highway Development Project Phase-4 Stage-3. It will also prepare a feasibility report for constructing 2,943 km of state highways under externally assisted KSHIP-4 projects at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore.
By March 2023, 948 km of state highways and 1,364 km of district and other roads will be developed at a cost of Rs 3,720 crore.
Rs 1,500 crore will be provided to improve road connectivity in district centres and rural areas.
The government will spend Rs 250 crore on the construction of 500 foot overbridges in the Western Ghats districts and provide a special package of Rs 100 crore to develop major roads in Kodagu.
The state will contribute its share for the Baiyappanahalli-Hosur, Hubballi-Chikkajajur and Hosapete-Hubballi-Vasco and Gadag-Hotgi railway doubling projects and the KR Puram-Whitefield quadrupling project.
It will provide an additional Rs 960 crore for the construction of the Tumakuru-Rayadurga, Ginigera-Raichur, Bagalkot-Kudchi and Chikkamagaluru-Belur new railway lines, besides Rs 150 crore to acquire land for the Belagavi-Kittur-Dharwad railway line.
The Shivamogga and Vijayapura airports will open this year and tenders will be invited for the construction of the Ballari airport under the PPP model. Rs 320 crore has been allocated for the upgrade of the Mysuru airport.
Feasibility reports have already been prepared for the construction of airports in Davangere and Koppal, and work will start this year.
Automated testing tracks will be established at a cost of Rs 80 crore in Devanahalli, Kolar, Hosapete, Gadag, Ballari, Vijayapura, Bidar, Yadgir and Davangere. More such tracks will come up in Tumakuru, Haveri, Yelahanka, Kasturinagar, Sakleshpur, KGF, Chintamani, Sagar, Gokak, Ranebennur, Dandeli, Sirsi and Bhalki with Rs 85 crore from the Road Safety Fund.
The challan system to collect compounded fines, established on a pilot basis in the Rajajinagar RTO, will be extended across the state in a phased manner.
Electric vehicle charging stations will be set up in government offices and the depots of road transport corporations under the green tax fund.