The Janata Dal (Secular) has accused the Karnataka government of allowing financial pressures to delay development works, citing claims about borrowing limits, pending contractor payments and stalled road projects. The allegations were made in a post on X on September 24 and attributed by the party to a Finance Department letter.
According to the JD(S), Karnataka has already crossed its maximum borrowing limit and may not be able to borrow for new schemes. The party said the state’s revenue deficit had reached ₹22,957 crore, despite the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management framework requiring the revenue deficit to be brought to zero.
The claims were made in the context of a wider political attack on the Congress government’s financial management. The JD(S) alleged that the state treasury had insufficient funds for development projects, but the report does not include the Finance Department letter itself or an independent response from the department.
The party also said the Finance Department had halted a proposed rural development programme involving ₹10,000 crore for 15,000 kilometres of roads. If implemented, such a programme would affect rural connectivity and the flow of public works contracts, but the supplied report does not establish whether the plan has been formally cancelled, deferred or only placed under financial review.
The JD(S) further claimed that contractors across three departments, including the Public Works Department, were owed ₹36,136 crore. Such outstanding payments can affect the execution of public infrastructure works and the financial position of contractors, but the amount remains a claim made by the party in the absence of the cited departmental document in the supplied material.
The party also alleged that ₹4,500 crore to ₹5,000 crore in additional assistance for agricultural pump sets remained unpaid amid drought-related difficulties. It said departments had sought ₹11,000 crore for new schemes in the coming financial period, but that no allocation had been made in the budget.
The post criticised Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar over remarks that he was himself the Finance Minister and knew which programmes should be stopped. The JD(S) described the government’s position as evidence of financial mismanagement.
The report provides no separate response from the Chief Minister’s office, the Finance Department, the Public Works Department or the Rural Development Department. It also does not specify the date of the alleged Finance Department letter, the borrowing ceiling involved or the current status of the road programme. These details will be necessary to establish the extent of Karnataka’s fiscal constraints and their effect on infrastructure spending.
