Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara has sought Rs 22,400.58 crore in drought relief from the Union government, citing crop losses across 57.93 lakh hectares in 226 taluks and urging the Centre to speed up the release of assistance to affected farmers.
In separate letters dated November 2 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Parameshwara requested urgent meetings to present Karnataka’s revised memorandum and explain the scale of the losses. He also holds the state’s Revenue portfolio.
According to the memorandum, the estimated economic loss from the drought has been pegged at Rs 62,481.88 crore. Karnataka’s cumulative relief requirement has increased from Rs 20,585.73 crore after the Union government revised assistance norms under the State Disaster Response Fund and the National Disaster Response Fund for 2026-27 to 2030-31.
The revised norms, notified by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on October 26, raised Karnataka’s crop-loss input subsidy requirement from Rs 6,128.70 crore to Rs 7,943.55 crore. The increase of Rs 1,814.85 crore accounts for the change in the state’s total relief demand, while other components of the earlier memorandum remain unchanged.
The revised assistance rates are Rs 11,000 per hectare for rainfed crops, Rs 22,000 for irrigated crops and Rs 30,000 for perennial crops. Parameshwara said these rates continued to fall short of farmers’ actual cultivation expenses, which include seeds, fertilisers, agricultural labour, irrigation and other essential inputs.
“Our farmers cannot be expected to confront the economic realities of 2026 with a relief framework that does not adequately recognise the true cost of cultivation and the magnitude of their losses,” he said in the letters, according to a press release.
The deputy chief minister also questioned the continued use of Agriculture Census 2015-16 data to determine eligibility for disaster assistance. He said decade-old landholding information might not reflect current agricultural conditions and could exclude eligible small and marginal farmers from relief.
Karnataka has asked the Centre to consider its FRUITS, or Farmer Registration and Unified Beneficiary Information System, database for identifying beneficiaries. The state government said the platform provides updated and verified information on farmers.
Parameshwara also sought a broader review of the disaster-relief framework, including more realistic assessments of cultivation costs, updated land records and assistance linked to the increasing intensity of climate-related disasters. He urged the Centre to facilitate an early appraisal of Karnataka’s revised claim and approve and release admissible financial assistance.
The state’s request now awaits consideration by the Union government. Parameshwara said coordination between the Centre and Karnataka was necessary to ensure timely support for farmers affected by the drought.
