Congress minister gets candid, says guarantees in Karnataka will hit infrastructure development

Speaking at an interaction meeting with industrialists and traders here, Sharanabasappa said development works would pick up pace in the second year.

Small Scale Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Sharanabasappa Darshanapur said on Saturday that infrastructure development would be affected to some extent during the Congress government’s first year in office, due to the guarantee schemes launched by the government.

Speaking at an interaction meeting with industrialists and traders here, he said development works would pick up pace in the second year. Pointing out that there will be a financial burden of Rs 40,000 crore to Rs 50,000 crore on the exchequer due to these guarantee schemes, he ruled out the possibility of a rollback in the power tariff hike, citing that it is the decision of the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission, an autonomous body.

However, the minister said that a meeting was convened with Energy Minister K J George on June 28. The matter pertaining to reduction of power tariff hike for small scale industries would be discussed with him during the meeting, he added.