New tech focus in Budget will benefit Bengaluru: Tejasvi Surya

Bangalore South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Saturday said the Union Budget’s push for new technologies will benefit Bengaluru the most, even as he countered claims made by the Opposition on joblessness in the country.

“The encouragement for new technologies such as the Kisan drone, battery policy, battery swapping as a service, the electric vehicles policy...all these will create new businesses and the first benefit will be for Bengaluru and Bengalureans,” Surya told a news conference.

From Karnataka’s point of view, Surya said the focus on infrastructure with an outlay of Rs 17 lakh crore will help the state. “Outside this outlay, the Centre has said that states will be eligible to borrow loans up to Rs 1 lakh crore at 0 per cent interest for a 50-year period,” he said, adding that such measures would drive economic growth.

Also Read: No job loss in country, only opposition dynasts unemployed: Tejasvi Surya

The BJP Yuva Morcha national president pointed out that Bengaluru is home to 24,000 out of the 61,400 startups registered in India. “Of these, 85 are unicorns with a valuation of $100 billion. They have the potential to become multinational companies,” he said. “The startup revolution is an indication of India's growing economic power.”

On the jobs front, Surya said the Union Budget will lead to the creation of 60 lakh jobs. “In the last one year, 13.95 lakh new subscribers have joined the EPFO. Half of them are in the 18-25 age group. This shows how many jobs have been created,” he said, adding that Karnataka alone saw 1.86 lakh new EPFO enrollments.

“The Centre came out with Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line to give immediate loans to MSMEs that were suffering due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In Bengaluru, 16,000 MSMEs got loans worth Rs 1,897 crore to protect jobs and livelihoods in the city,” he said.

Dishing out statistics on the number of beneficiaries under various central schemes in Bengaluru, Surya said many of the programmes are aimed at uplifting the poor. “The PM Suraksha Bima Yojana that provides Rs 2 lakh accident insurance for a yearly premium of Rs 12 saw 26 lakh registrations in Bengaluru alone,” he said.

Asked about water security in Bengaluru, Surya said the BJP had a big role to play in the implementation of Cauvery Stages 2 to 4. “Footmarches won’t bring water,” he said, taking a dig at the Congress. “Be it Mekedatu or any other project, water is the right of Bengaluru’s citizens. To ensure the city’s water security, we are 100 per cent committed,” he said.

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