Karnataka Cabinet clears key health, education and Cauvery projects: H K Patil

Bengaluru: Karnataka minister H K Patil on Thursday said the state Cabinet has approved a series of administrative and infrastructure proposals across departments, including health, education, drinking water and agriculture.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patil said the decisions were aimed at strengthening public infrastructure and welfare delivery across Karnataka.

“The Cabinet also approved a report submitted by a committee headed by M Govinda Rao on redressing regional imbalance in Karnataka,” Patil said.

“Since it is one of the important recommendations of the report, the chief minister’s Budget speech will reflect it,” he said.

In the health sector, Patil said administrative approval had been granted for several hospital projects.

The Cabinet decided to take up, in the first phase, construction work for a 100-bed facility as part of a proposed 250-bed district hospital at Kollegala in Chamarajanagar district at an estimated cost of Rs 48 crore, he said.

An approval was also given for the revised estimate of Rs 150 crore to upgrade the Udupi district hospital to a 250-bed facility.

The Cabinet also granted administrative approval to construct a 100-bed taluk hospital at Malur in Kolar district at an estimated cost of Rs 41 crore and to build a 300-bed teaching hospital at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district for Rs 180 crore.

In the education sector, approval was given under the Samagra Shikshana Karnataka to establish computer labs in 854 government high schools and KGBV schools at an estimated cost of Rs 44.29 crore, the minister said.

In the agriculture sector, the Cabinet approved implementation of the Karnataka Raitha Suraksha Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana from 2026–27 under a complete risk transfer mechanism model.

Explaining the scheme, Patil said compensation for crop loss due to natural calamities such as hailstorm, landslide, crop submergence and lightning-induced fire would be settled on an area basis.

“At the time of calamity, all farmers will get compensation,” he said.

On drinking water infrastructure, the Cabinet granted administrative approval for the Rs 6,939 crore Cauvery Phase VI project to meet additional drinking water requirements of Bengaluru city and its suburbs.

Approval was also given for the construction of a 30 ML capacity RCC reservoir by demolishing the dilapidated structure at the Bull Temple reservoir service station in Bengaluru.

The minister said the Cabinet also approved various land allotments and exchange proposals placed before it by the revenue department, as well as regulatory measures relating to transfer rules in minority welfare services.

The decisions reflected the government’s focus on infrastructure expansion and administrative streamlining across sectors, Patil said.