Published Mar 06, 2026 | 3:24 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 06, 2026 | 3:24 PM
Siddaramaiah presenting the budget. (Supplied)
Synopsis: While presenting the budget, Siddaramaiah reinforcing his government’s commitment to guarantees’ noted that, “The State has stood by its commitments on social protection and welfare. Since the introduction of the Government’s guarantee schemes, an amount of ₹1,21,598 crore has been spent up to February 2026, demonstrating that the Government has honoured its assurances while maintaining fiscal prudence.”
On Friday, 6 March, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the Finance portfolio presented the state’s budget for 2026–27 in the Legislative Assembly. This is the 17th Budget of Siddaramaiah and the fourth in his second term as the chief minister.
While presenting the budget, Siddaramaiah reinforcing his government’s commitment to guarantees’ noted that, “The State has stood by its commitments on social protection and welfare. Since the introduction of the Government’s guarantee schemes, an amount of ₹1,21,598 crore has been spent up to February 2026, demonstrating that the Government has honoured its assurances while maintaining fiscal prudence.”
The Congress government in 2023 launched five flagship welfare programs providing food security, financial aid, free power, unemployment support, and free bus travel for women, targeting socio-economic upliftment. These include Anna Bhagya (free rice), Gruha Lakshmi (₹2000/month to women), Gruha Jyoti (free electricity up to 200 units), Yuva Nidhi (unemployment allowance for graduates/diploma holders), and Shakti (free bus travel for women).
Speaking of Gruha Jyothi, the chief minister in his address said ₹10,578 cores has been allocated for the scheme this current year, and added, “To date, 1.74 crore consumers have enrolled under the Gruha Jyothi scheme, one of the five guarantee schemes. During the last three years, ₹28,000 crores has been spent on this scheme.”
Meanwhile for Anna Bhagya scheme, the government for the year 2026-27, has decided to provide Indira Food Kit containing nutritious items such as tur dal, sugar, salt, and cooking oil every month, instead of additional 5 kg of rice being currently provided. For the same, Siddaramaiah announced that ₹6,200 crore is set to be allocated for the scheme.
For Gruha Lakshmi scheme, the budget has allocated ₹28,608 crore for the fiscal year 2026-27.
Speaking of the Yuva Nidhi scheme, Siddaramaiah noted that “unemployment allowance of ₹ 913 crore has been paid to 3,08,267 eligible beneficiaries through direct cash transfer.”
For the Shakti scheme, an allocation of ₹5,300 crore has been provided for its implementation in 2026–27.
“Under the Government’s flagship Shakti Scheme, implemented with the objective of women’s empowerment, the number of women passengers availing the benefit has been increasing steadily. So far, women beneficiaries have undertaken 684 crore trips under the scheme. An allocation of ₹5,300 crore has been provided for the implementation of this scheme in 2026–27,” the chief minister said.
