Special grants: Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai to travel to Delhi

Days after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dismissed releasing special grants to the tune of Rs 5,495 crore to Karnataka, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that he would travel to Delhi soon to request that the grants are released.

Bommai, who represents Karnataka in the GST Council, said that Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has already written to the Central government requesting it to release the special grants. "In the coming days, I will also travel to Delhi to press for the grants," he said on Sunday.

The 15th Finance Commission had recommended the special grants to Karnataka in its first report in February 2020, the grants were not part of the final report tabled in November 2020. The grants were provided to offset the decline in devolution and revenue deficit grants under the 15th Commission.

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"We will make every effort to ensure the state's right," he said. Last week, Sitharaman said that the final recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission did not provide for special grants to any state.

Bommai said that there was scope to amend the recommendations, recalling that not all of the Commissions' recommendations were fully implemented in the past.

Mekedatu project

Bommai dismissed the objections of Tamil Nadu for the Mekedatu project as a 'political adventure' by the TN government. "Karnataka would fight for the implementation of the project legally," he said.

"Tamil Nadu has always stirred dispute over Cauvery," he said, noting that the project was being implemented within the state borders. "It is for drinking water needs and we are not preventing any flow to Tamil Nadu," he said.

The dispute, he said was a 'political adventure' of the newly elected DMK government. "We are legally correct (in implementing the project) and will fight it out legally," Bommai added.

It can be recalled that Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had written to his Tamil Nadu counterpart on Saturday, urging him not to oppose the project and offering to hold bilateral talks to address any issues.