The JD(S) has accused the Karnataka government of allowing welfare commitments to deepen a financial crisis that is now delaying development projects, holding up contractor payments and leaving additional agricultural power subsidies pending. The allegations were made in a post on X on September 24, citing what the party described as a Finance Department letter.
According to the JD(S), the state has already exceeded its borrowing limit and may not have room to raise fresh loans for new projects. The party said the Finance Department had expressed concern that new borrowing was no longer available for planned initiatives.
The party also claimed that Karnataka’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 JD(S) said the position had left little money for development schemes and described the state treasury as depleted.
A major concern raised in the post relates to a rural development road programme. The JD(S) said the Finance Department had halted funding for a proposed ₹10,000-crore project covering 15,000 km of roads. The post did not provide details on the project’s implementation status, approved works or the specific administrative order behind the reported funding pause.
The party further claimed that contractors across three departments, including the Public Works Department, were owed ₹36,136 crore. Such dues can affect the pace of public construction and road maintenance, but the figures in the report are attributed to the JD(S) and have not been independently established in the supplied material.
The opposition party also alleged that the government had not cleared between ₹4,500 crore and ₹5,000 crore in additional subsidies for agricultural pump sets in drought-hit areas. It said the pending support was significant for farmers facing stress from drought conditions.
The JD(S) said departments had sought ₹11,000 crore for announcing new schemes in the coming period, but that no allocation had been made for those demands in the budget. The party used the claims to accuse the Congress government of prioritising its guarantee programmes at the expense of broader development spending.
The post also criticised Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar over a reported response that he was the Finance Minister and knew which programmes should be stopped when officials presented the financial position. The JD(S) described that response as evidence of administrative failure.
The supplied report records the JD(S)’s allegations and references to the Finance Department’s reported assessment. It does not include a response from the Karnataka government, an independently verified copy of the letter, or departmental confirmation of the figures. The next official clarification on the state’s borrowing capacity, contractor liabilities, road funding and agricultural pump-set subsidies will determine the extent of the financial constraints described by the opposition party.
