Namma Metro funds cut

Namma Metro funds cut
From B S Arun,DH News Service,New Delhi:
The Interim Budget has reduced the allocation for the Bangalore Metro rail project. It slashes the Centres investment in Namma Metro from Rs 262 crore of the revised budget of 2008-09 to Rs 215.79 crore of 2009-10.

The document on “Expenditure budget 2009-10” does not give any reason for reducing the Centre’s share in the project, which has been moving at a snail’s speed. Ironically, the revised figure is less compared with the figure of Rs 280 crore of the budgetary estimate of 2008-09.

The allocation for Nimhans, Bangalore, has been brought down, but that for the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Mysore, has gone up. For Nimhans, the allocation has been reduced from Rs 89.86 crore to Rs 82.86 crore. For AIISH, it has been raised from Rs 18.08 crore to Rs 23.08 crore. The “Receipts Budget 2009-10” says Karnataka will get Rs 7,645.84 crore for the coming fiscal.

The State will get Rs 2,822 crore under corporation tax, Rs 1,587 crore under income tax, Rs 2.84 crore under wealth tax, Rs 1,391 crore under customs duty, Rs 910 crore under Union excise duty and Rs 931 crore under service tax.

The states that receive higher allocation than Karnataka include Andhra Pradesh (Rs 12,613 crore), Bihar (Rs 18,909 crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 11,507 crore), West Bengal (Rs 12,100 crore) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 33,031 crore).

Boost for IISc

Compared with Rs 209 crore in the revised estimate for 2008-09, the allocation for the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, this year has been increased to Rs 224 crore.

Pranab Mukherjee said that the outlay on higher education has been increased 900 per cent in Five Year Plan XI.